The Sword of Zero
by Gamer
Summary: Aile opened her eyes and found out that she had been summoned on a strange land unlike her own, a land to which Magic exists and Technology nonexistent. Chapter 06: A Familiar Face
1. Chapter 01: To the Maw of the Void

**Chapter 01: At the Moment of Her Death**

**.**

_I've never seen you before. Who are you?_ – Louise

**.**

The whole place shook and trembled as she stared at her defeated enemy before her. Concrete and other building materials crashed around her but she continued to stare at this monster, at the man that was once called Serpent, or what was left of him after the model W had sunk its poisoned claws deep inside his mind before corrupting and twisting it, rendering him nothing more than a pawn in its grand scheme of destruction.

But it is all over now as she had done it, she had defeated model W with the help of the heroes of the past. Doing so had casted a very heavy toll on her. Her wish of peace comes with a price that only she right now understood.

Her Life…

'Weird …' She thought, '_I don't even feel fear even when I am about to die …_' her body was strained beyond her limits while the cracks on her body showed broken machinery, liquid coolant oozing out of ruptured tubes, and flickering circuitry instead of tendons and ligaments. She cannot move nor feel her body due to her dead pain receptors overloaded and overworked from the pressure of battle.

'_Aile,_' a voice whispered deep inside. '_We need to move otherwise we'll get crushed._'

'_I-I know, X,_' she replied, as she willed her body to move. Creaks and whirls could be heard as her body protested telling her that she was already past her limits. "I … I need to move …" She said to herself while her vision flickered from the loss of energy and blood. She stood and tried to limp herself away, never giving up even in the face of certain death. A sudden shaking of the ground forced her to lose her footing as she tumbled forward and fell deep into the void, forcibly canceling her connection to the models when she felt a sudden surge of unknown energy course through her but the models stayed with her, never leaving her side as she lost consciousness.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

"Sh-Shut Up!" A young girl shrilled at the top of her lungs. Once again denying and disbelieving the fact that she failed again. For her, failure is nothing but a stepping stone, a stone filled with thorns that she had to crawl through to prove that she is not a failure as a mage nor a pretender thinking herself as one. Even if she fell, she will pick herself up with her head held high.

"Why don't you just give up, Vallière?" Asked the red haired student in that slow seductive voice of hers; her tanned arms crossing under her chest, accentuating her already generous cleavage while an aggravating smirk never left her face further irritate the girl.

"Now, now, miss Zerbst, no need to work her up." Instructed a balding middle aged man dressed in a blue robe and carrying a straight staff. "Miss Vallière, if you may …?" It was a bit rhetorical but enough to give drive to his students.

The little girl known only by the surname Vallière gritted her teeth and tried to block out the annoying peers and whispered comments about her already doomed spell by her classmates. For them any spells that she cast are all failures that they used to fan the flames of their insults so they could slowly grind her pride away and break her spirit into irreparable pieces reducing her into an emotional wreck of her former self.

Ms. Vallière began to cast her whispered spell in near silence; unknown to her, her classmates had considered this as the calm before the storm with double meaning: The loud bang of a failed spell and the laughter that followed said failure to add to her shame.

Magic collected on her wand, slowly getting stronger and stronger as she channeled her power into it until it glowed with a brilliant blue energy, and with a final incantation she flicked her wrist and arm, pointing her wand directly infront of her.

An explosion occurred as typical of her due to her magical affinity to none of the four basic elements before a sudden bright light deep inside the cloud forced all of the students and professor to close their eyes followed by the sound of a body hitting the grassy floor though no one heard as the noise of the detonation rang their ears.

Ms. Vallière opened her eyes as the smoke settled before gazing down, her hope morphing to despair as she saw the child lay unmoving. '_Another failure…_' The thought rang deep inside her mind while unconsciously biting her lower lip to stop a scream of frustration that threatened to be heard by everyone. Oh how she wished to scream, to tear out her hear, and vent her frustrations to the wind asking whoever was listening to her from the heavens to answer her one simple question, 'Why?'. She swallowed hard as she choked down the emotion, and with empty eyes she stared at the unmoving young woman.

The sounds of laughter echoed all around; repeatedly stabbing her heart like it was laced with poison. A poison at least could affect her physically and it will allow her an excuse to rest to her room or the infirmary, whereas this emotional pain was something that she could not even show least the ones that bully her would keep on rubbing salt on her metaphorical wounds. Unknown to everyone, sometimes she would wish that she could crawl in on herself and weep in silence with no one to disturb her or hurt her in anyway so she could lick her wounds with no one watching.

But something was wrong, she knew it for the girl didn't even move at all. Her classmates' loud laughter should have awakened the sleeping young girl before her.

"Perhaps she needs a kiss?" Suggested the obese blonde noble as he remembered a story about a prince breaking the curse that had been placed upon a princess that forced her to sleep till the day she died. "Then again all of us had to bind our respective familiars that way."

Vallière ignored the boy, and just stood there in silence.

"There's no reason to jest Mr. Malicorne." The balding man reprimanded the student though his voice was nowhere near seething but rather leveled in a tone like that of a father to his son. He came closer to the girl on the grass to see what was wrong but a certain smell made him stop and once the smoky haze cleared enough …

"AAAAHHH!" Ms. Vallière screamed at the sight before her and cold fear started to etch up her spine when she realized the reason why the young girl didn't move from her spot.

Blood seeped out of from several lacerations located all over her body. Her clothes are torn on some places whilst some had been burned off completely exposing burn marks that would surely leave a scar after it was healed, _if_ it was healed at all. But the most frightening of all was the girl's glassy eyes that bored deep into Miss Vallière own as if asking her, '_why?_'

Darkness took her, letting the peace of sleep soothe the summoner's soul of what she had done.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

The balding man sniffed the air. There was no mistaking it, he knew that smell. It was the smell of burnt flesh and clothes, making him remember his nightmare of that certain night, of his stubborn blindness to duty, of his greatest failure, and of the burning young girl dying on the ground.

The scream of Ms. Vallière shook him out of his trance and he fixed his eyes on the ground before setting his sights on the girl lying motionless on the grassy floor then to Miss Vallière who had fallen unconscious from the shock. He took a shaky breath to steady his thoughts prior to giving orders like he had done back during his service to the crown. "Miss Zerbst, Miss Tabitha, please carry Ms. Vallière back to her room. Mr. Gramont, have your golems grab that unused wooden trellis over there, laid it by its side and have them gently place the injured girl to it then head directly for the infirmary. Hurry!"

Mr. Gramont swished his wand that was tipped with a rose called forth two of his bronze constructions that he named as valkyries whose names he derived from the maidens of war. Doing as they were told they grabbed the trellis before rushing back to their master and the three of them gently laid it down on the ground beside the injured girl but it was their professor who lifted the injured girl to the improvised stretcher followed by them running to the infirmary.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

The busty, crimson haired woman sighed, her long hair hiding her right eye, she then beckoned to the diminutive, glasses wearing girl whose short azure hair hid her ears. Tabitha as she called herself mutely nodded her head in indifference before creating a hovering sheet of ice. Miss Zerbst, being more athletic of the two raised the sleeping girl gently to the slab of ice. Miss Vallière pink hair trailed behind before Tabitha raised it to the sleeping girl's side. "She's surprisingly light." Exclaimed Miss Zerbst before another thought appeared on her mind. "How about we have Flame carry her back?" She asked her companion, who only looked slightly to her before she resumed reading her book with a shake of her head. Puzzled, she asked why and Tabitha simply pointed to the tail of the busty girl's familiar. Flame is Miss Zerbst's familiar, a giant salamander with a flaming tail. "Oh, you're right. Hmm… How about your familiar? Sylphid wasn't it?" she nodded before pointing at the low ceiling, by now they we're inside and not out at the courtyard. "I see, we can let yours do it but she wouldn't fit inside. Oh well …" She looked at the sleeping child in the middle of them before she sighed and asked in a very subdued voice, "Say, do you know why or rather how Louise managed to summon an injured human girl?" Unknown to the pink haired girl nor to their entire school except Tabitha, she considered Miss Vallière as one of her friends.

If one didn't look close enough then they would miss the slight thinning of Tabitha's eyes. She shook her head again.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

Bubbles …

She could hear bubbles and the soft cracking of water on water …

She looked around the place then stared up at the sky or what suppose to be the sky but instead she saw the soft movements of the ocean's surface dancing above her. She gazed at it, mesmerized at its tranquility and viciousness for a moment before deeming it as unimportant and headed straight for her destination; for her to retrieve something.

Or was it someone?

A small mechanical creature lingered (or was it floated?) infront of her that looked vaguely like a fish with a long thin line at the creature's head that went to the darkness beyond her field of vision. They exchanged a few strange words that she couldn't comprehend nor decipher before erupting into a fight that could only be described as something beyond a square class magic with the creature's ability to make crystals and shards of ice without any kind of incantation. And yet here she was fighting on her toes and exchanging blows armed only with a gleaming sword on her right and a strange pistol on the left against that strange creature before she managed to land a killing blow with her unnatural shimmering sword and slicing that annoying little pest before it exploded into tiny fragments.

And that is when she felt something ominous beyond her. Gazing up to where the line disappeared, she looked into the abyss, into the darkness …

Into the void …

And surprise and fear welled up within her as a giant fish raced to her at unimaginable speed with its mouth gaping intending to swallow her whole.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

Ms. Vallière sat up suddenly on her bed, breathing hard and sweating profusely. "What was that?" She asked herself fully knowing that she had no answer to the rhetorical question. '_And why am I here?_' she mentally added while gazing around. She's back at her room, sitting on her bed, but the orange glow of the sunlight outside indicated that it is already late afternoon.

The door swung open.

"Ah, you're awake." A voice stated. Ms. Vallière turned her head around and saw a maid with a raven colored hair. "Is there anything I can get you with?"

Blinking slightly before wiping her eyes, Ms. Vallière replied, "I've never seen you before. Who are you?"

"Ah! Forgive me Ms. Vallière. I am **Siesta**, I have recently applied here."

Ms. Vallière nodded a bit as she digested this information. "What happened? Why am I back in my room? I thought that we are going to summon our familiars today."

Upon hearing this, the maid scowled a bit but luckily for her it wasn't noticed. "You did summon a familiar Ms. Vallière but unfortunately she was in a bad shape." Siesta knew that it was an understatement but she didn't know a word that would fit the injuries that the girl sustained.

"W-What? What happened to my familiar? Where is it now?" Blurted Ms. Vallière as she jumped out of her bed wanting to find out what became of her familiar. '_Did the others hurt it?_' Sudden dread welled up within her when a vision about her familiar being subjected to harmful magic appeared.

This time, Siesta's scowl was visible though Ms. Vallière didn't notice it, she hated it when they, the commoners weren't treated equally, more so when they are acknowledged as nothing more than animals or pets. Oh how she wished to slap this arrogant girl for calling the injured girl an 'it' but she had to endure. She had to endure the prejudice so that she'll bring money back home to her family.

Anger now bloomed inside her heart at the thought of what they might had done to her summon. "Why is it injured? Did the others hurt it? I will tell the headmaster on what they had done to my summon."

'_Eh…?_" Siesta mentally voiced. '_She doesn't know she had summoned a girl_?' Deciding to risk it, she asked, "Miss Vallière, do you know what you had summoned?"

A bit puzzled by this question that had halted both her train of thought and inner tirade of revenge, she then tried to conjure the image of her familiar but nothing appeared on her mind. She shook her head.

The maid relaxed her tense facial muscles; all of the previous thoughts about this girl disappeared instantly. "It's a girl." She said in a voice that sounded suspiciously like a midwife. '_Dear founder I slipped!_' Perhaps she had relaxed a bit too much.

A shiver ran up her spine but suppressed it quickly. "Ah! I see …" She blushed for a bit. "W-well, where is she now?" This maid had voiced it like she had given birth.

"She's at the infirmary recovering from the injuries, ma'am. Would you like for me to accompany you?"

"No, there is no need. Thank you, Siesta." Ms. Vallière said before bowing and leaving her room.

Siesta blinked. It was the first time that for her to have a noble responds to her equally. She then bowed respectfully at the girl's retreating form. Perhaps there's still some hope for the nobles.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

"Professor Colbert?" Vallière asked, surprised that a professor was down here at the infirmary ward.

The balding man, Professor Colbert turned around to see who it was. "Ah! **Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière**." He smiled and nodded at her but he didn't leave the bedside nor stood up to bow. At his side were a pencil and a notepad with a few scribbles here and there. What they are though eluded Louise's mind. "I came down here to get some potions for the burns that I got from experimenting but on my way out I got curious on the condition of your summon."

Louise gazed at the strangely humanoid hand that her professor was holding up to the bandaged arm that had spots of crimson then to the face of a young girl.

Louise gasped.

She was told that it was a girl but she didn't know that it was human. "H-Her? I summoned her?" She asked skeptically. At first she thought that the maid was referring to a female beast but to actually summon a human? That was unheard of in all of history!

"Yes, of course." Replied the professor evenly, not knowing the stab of pain that he had unwittingly staked at the pink haired girl. "This young girl gave us quite a fright when she suddenly appeared as your summon with all of those very nasty injuries." Another stab of pain, she didn't know whether Professor Colbert was doing this deliberately or not. "She had lost a lot of blood and was quite near death's door before we managed to save her." He then looked at Louise, "I wound advise on not performing the contract yet as she's still in critical condition." He then set down the girl's hand to her chest before he stood up, wrote something on the notepad, and then stretched a bit. "Well then, I'll be going now. I have some experiments to do and research to look up." With that he strode away, looking at his notepad about the information that he got.

Louise was left alone in the room silently watching the young girl that was no older than her if not younger. Louise watched her breathe, the brown haired girl's chest rising and falling in time of her breathing. No sound was heard except for the slight scraping as Louise lifted a chair and placed it at the side of the bed before she sat on it and gazed again at the girl. Louise bit her lower lip but choked down the tears that threatened to come out. She's a Valliere, and she would not let her emotions take control of her. "I'm sorry." She said, guilt was etched on her heart as she thought that her failed summoning had brought this commoner and hurt her as she was dragged away from her place to an unknown land, bound to eternal servitude until the day that she died at her summoner's hands or some other being while protecting her master from harm.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

Siesta was worried. It had been hours since Ms. Vallière had left and she had performed her duties to the little noble's room even washing her clothes despite it being out of her jurisdiction. She was just like that, a girl who liked to clean and tidy things up, and a hard worker to boot. She then opened the door leading to the infirmary and stopped in her steps at what she saw before a smile appeared on her lips.

Ms. Vallière was there and had apparently fallen asleep, kneeling at the foot of the bed with her head at the soft cushion while holding the unknown girl's right hand with her own. Siesta smiled, so she did care about them, the commoners, the ordinary townsfolk. She then went to the closet and grabbed a blanket. Carefully opening it she then placed it on Louise's body to keep her warm before patting her head. '_Strange, she looks younger than she should be_.' She thought before shaking it off and letting it disappear. There are far more things that she had to do and best not to get distracted.

Walking to the door, she took one last glance at the sleeping girls before she left them in peace. She then though of all the duties she had to do before going to bed that was until this train of thought was interrupted by a voice at her side.

"Oh~! Could you be new here?" The voice asked. Siesta turned around and saw a noble boy with a rose on his hand and a very lusty gaze that set alarm bell ringing on her head as if he was disrobing her right here and now. Now very self conscious, she shifted a bit and tried to hide her body more from those eyes but I only earned her his mirth. "Hahaha! Oh, how beautiful yet fragile, like a flower that is about to bloom for the first time."

Siesta's face reddened at that, she doesn't mind being compared to a flower but rather she blushed at what it could possibly mean, she cannot move under that noble's stare so she remained where she was.

"Ah! Where are my manners?" He chided himself. "I forgot to introduce myself, I am **Guiche de Gramont **also known as Guiche the Bronze. And may I ask for the name of this fine-looking maid that I am speaking with?"

"It's Siesta, sir."

"Siesta?"

"Yes, sir."

Guiche frowned, "Just Siesta? Just one word?" Siesta flushed at that and didn't reply. Guiche then waved it off though, but he did make a note to ask at a later date. "Well, no matter. For a girl as beautiful as you, will you take this gift in admiration of your beauty?" Guiche asked as a rose bouquet appeared in his hands.

Not knowing what to say or do, Siesta just obliged and took the bouquet from his hands while her blush deepened. She looked at the perfectly arranged rose bouquet with each stem trimmed of its thorns with a small quantity of water to make it sparkle under the light. She then looked up only to have his breath trickle on her ear.

"I will be seeing you around." He whispered, unknowingly making Siesta shiver before walking away, leaving her standing frozen on the spot, before disappearing beyond the corridor.

Siesta exhaled the breath that she had been holding before shivering again and rubbing her shoulders with her hands. '_What a pompous brat!_' She thought, not daring to voice it in fear that someone might overhear. She tried not to think about it though but she can't just throw away the roses that he gave. With a thought, she decided to go to her quarters first and find a vase to place it.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

Guiche was still walking along the castle corridors and had back tracked countless of times but he still hadn't found the very thing that he lost; the one that he took from her girlfriend Montmorency without her knowing. If someone had found it and used it, he's quite sure that there will be a very large misunderstanding, not to mention a lot of ruckus, and God forbid, collateral damage.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

Professor Colbert sat at a chair in the deserted library before he look again at the notepad to which he had written the injuries of the summoned girl before forcibly turning it away from himself so he could research at the possibility of summoning a human familiar. The professor sighed and rubbed his eyes fully knowing that this would be a long night. He was tempted to give the overall injuries of the young girl to the headmaster but alas! The headmaster was already sleeping peacefully and didn't wish to be disturbed. He shook his head to remove the thought before opening the first book at the table infront of him.

It is said that the familiar reflected the mage and thus his students had summoned a variety of animals and magical beast; for the upstart and uncontainable Montmorency, a frog reflecting her status as a water mage and innate patience even in the heat of a confrontation; for firm Guiche, a mole mirroring his class as an earth mage, his desire to feel the hearts around him and his hidden loyalty to the people he uphold; for the passionate Gemanian Ms. Zerbst, a rare salamander echoing hers talent as a fearsome fire mage and her secret zeal to nurture the people she considered as friends; for the swift and mysterious Tabitha, a great young dragon showing herself as a wind mage and her instinctive wish to soar free from whatever bonds that held her.

Professor Colbert sighed and leaned back his head as memory flooded his thoughts, of his once great familiar. The one who had stayed with him till the day it died. The one that he had summoned was a great basilisk, the king of snakes, and his irreplaceable partner who's gaze can kill if he ordered it reflecting his treacherous path when he served ruthlessly under the crown; one that he had greatly mourned in passing due to his own foolishness at the military for following blindly at the orders without questioning them.

And now he had this problem, a question that he had wished to be answered as fast as possible. How did Miss Vallière summon a human familiar let alone an injured one? She hadn't made the contract yet as the young girl was still in dire condition. But the question still remained and the answer out of sight. He sighed again. Pondering about it without consulting the tomes of information would be akin to walking off a cliff and asking why people fall. He shook his head to clear them and resumed his search for the answer.

**=A Heroine's Rebirth=**

She was running …

Gazing up at the sky, the blood red sky, she can see large structures all around her and a mountain of scrap metal on her far left before she squinted her eyes at a shadow obscured by glare of the sun. It jumped up to the sky but it never fell down but floated right infront of her. Like her dream before, she and the green winged creature exchanged a few words before it again erupted into a fight and once again she had to defend herself and dodge to avoid the lightning that was sent to her.

She watched her enemy intently. Like a grasshopper, the mechanical creature never stayed in one place and moved around erratically, confusing her and remained one step ahead of her. Her attacks are always missing but she knew without a doubt that even this one had a flaw; a pattern of sorts to exploit and use against it. Yes… Its greatest strength will become its greatest weakness.

She exchanged a few more blows as the creature kept on taunting her but she paid it no mind as the seconds stretched into minutes before she finally saw it, the weakness that she had been waiting for.

Each time he attacked with heavy bolts of light he had to glide and land, mercy to the force that it had expelled. And with each landing he had to stay for two seconds before resuming flight. She grit her teeth, she had to time her moves and lure it into thinking that it was winning as she only had one shot for it. She then stopped firing and began to gather energy.

It turned around and hovered, facing her. She knew that it was about to unleash its heaviest attack. She jumped to the side as a bolt of condensed light went through and vaporized the ground where she once was before it unleashed another and another, bathing the whole place with craters before it stopped and began to glide to the ground. She took this chance and unleashed a large wave of energy.

The creature saw it but it was too late as the huge wave of condensed energy blew its right wing apart. Not wasting anytime she accelerated to gather speed before jumping towards her disoriented foe and with a battle cry she brought down her glowing sword and sliced it apart from its right shoulder bone to its left leg. She knew it was over as they fell to the ground, she with a few scrapes and cracks in her armor and the creature that fell in pieces, and with a parting breath it exploded leaving something behind.

Or did she free someone?

Louise opened her eyes and saw the new dawn…

**A/N:**

Siesta covered Louise with a blanket

Siesta might think that she and Louise are kindred spirit in that they hate the treatment that they had had. Though Louise didn't know about it.

The nightmare was a giant fish about to eat her

What if computers are protein based instead of silicone?

For some reason I think the biometals don't need any maintenance as they are self repairing due to Aile's body.

Aile's reploid parts are growing and repairing by themselves.

She came to Tristain heavily wounded

Aile had all the biometals

**A/N2:**

Added people bowing as a personal touch I think

Before you guys start to ask me questions. Let me just clear something.

Yes, I do agree that Grey/Ashe with Model A would be better and more likely to be summoned here as they can transform into different mechanical beings due to Model A's A-Trans ability. Heck, I do know that Vent would be more likely than Aile due to being a tough guy but I like Aile better so there you have it the reason I had Louise summon Aile.

Another reason for Aile being here is that she is human and she doesn't need the reason below.

There is one reason as to why I avoided summoning people from Megaman Series, X Series, and Zero Series. The reason is this …

MAINTENANCE

Seriously, in Megaman X8, Signas even said that the player 'should head back to the lab for maintenance' when you had returned back to base heavily damaged. So where in Halgekenia are you going to refit? Sure you can make Siesta's great grandfather's hanger like that but it would give some serious plot holes considering how tough Robots and Reploids are with the people having no knowledge of them If Robots and Reploids did came to Halgekenia it would leave a very serious, frightening and long lasting impression similar to what they would feel like when they saw an Elf. (Yah I have a plan for that). Another reason is that if X or Zero's hand is severed then it will be severed forever for there are no spares in that place. Not to mention that the way they are created, it is technically impossible to replicate X and Zero's body in that low tech world.

Another would be the energy to empower them; having magic even if it is the void is not enough you know as the Void sucks and destroys not give and create except possibly only during summoning and resummoning but you know the necessities for that.

If we're concerning about Megaman Legends. It is near possible but still I think Volnutt and the others still need the energy crystals not to mention the fact that it is said that the people in there aren't human but instead 'Carbons.'

So yah I have a lot of plots holes to fill in.

**A/N 3 ReWrite:**

I don't like Model OX much, sure she had some cool moves but they are all impractical to wield and when you got hit it cancels the overdrive not to mention the fact that her normal attacks are powerful enough. I usually use model HX for travelling and model ZX for attacks at range since I'm more of a ranged expert than a melee combatant.


	2. Chapter 02: During Her Dreamless Sleep

**Chapter 02: From a Place You're not There**

**.**

_Look out!_ – Siesta

**.**

"Ah, you're awake my dear," said a feminine voice.

Louise opened her eyes and blinked as she swayed on the chair she sat on. She rubbed her eyes for a bit to remove the morning glare before releasing both a yawn that should have broken her jaw thrice and stretching her back in a move that would have made a kitten jealous. She opened her eyes again still a bit groggy but was able to scan the strange room that she had dozed off on. "Where am I?" She asked no one but nevertheless received an answer.

"You had slept at the infirmary dear." The voice replied, "I'm quite surprised that you stayed with your injured friend over there." It was a motherly voice, quite soothing to the heart.

Louise turned her head at where the voice came from and saw a smiling plump woman mixing a few potions. "Madam Pomfrey?" She asked, it was impossible to mistake the healer as someone else for she was the only noble that refused to wear any sophisticated clothes and chose rather to prefer a commoner's attire, reasoning that the clothes would just get in the way; that or her very unusual way of traveling via entering the closet and disappearing through it. Everybody's too afraid to ask though as the secrets are said to be too frightening and had dire consequences that even their headmaster the one who was called as Old Osmond never dared to find out.

Madam Pomfrey smiled and gave Louise a potion to get rid of the drowsiness. "Here, drink this, it will help energize you, now, after you finished that why don't you return to you room freshen up a bit."

Louise nodded and drank the strange mixture without a word; it tasted a lot like green tea with a mild sour aftertaste. Placing the cup on the table she began to walk away but stopped and turned her head a bit at the sleeping figure on the bed before wordlessly disappearing behind the door.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Professor Colbert was startled awake and immediately grabbed the hand that lightly tapped his shoulder before raising his staff to unleash a retaliatory strike against his agitator. He nearly burned the infidel that owned the hand but before he did he saw her face and calmed himself a split second after. "Sorry about that." He apologized, lowering his staff and rubbing the back of his head with the other sheepishly. "Please do accept my apology, Miss…?" He let the word hang to let her answer.

"S-Siesta, s-sir." She stammered, her body rigid and her hands close to her chest as fear and surprise welled up within her, fully knowing that she almost got herself killed from a simple, kind gesture as putting a blanket to keep him warm.

"I'm very sorry for my actions miss Siesta." He apologized again. "It was an old habit of mine back then at the military." He explained before he saw a blanket at her hands. "Were you trying to keep me warm?" She nodded. "I see; I appreciate the gesture though I doubt that I would need it anymore." He shrugged as he looked outside, sure that during this time of year each day is nearly as cold as night. "Please do carry on with your duties." She nodded again before scampering off quickly. He sighed again before rubbing the back of his head the second time. "I really should get rid of that bad habit." He said to himself before grabbing the notepad under a pile of books while placing a note at the pile of said books, telling the people not to touch his research. He then started humming as he looked over at the list of the summoned girl's injuries before deciding to take another look at the girl's situation before reporting to Old Osmond as he and the other staff would call him. Luckily, Old Osmond is actually amused at what they called him.

That was as far as his thoughts could go before something nagged at his head. '_Wait, How come I didn't even sense her._' He thought as he gazed back at where the maid had been. Back then during his time as an officer he had developed a way to feel his enemy and how far they are from him with an effective range of fifty meters. But this maid, it felt like she didn't exist at all.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Guiche groaned, sleep deprivation was clearly visible on his pale face and dead, fish like eyes. His back hunched down and a hand leaned against the wall before he yawned loudly. Today was supposed to be the first day of three to get to know about their familiar. He groaned more, he really did wish to know more about his beloved, beautiful mole Verdandi but his body was begging him to lay on the comfort of his soft bed. He shook his head, he must press on as his mole wasn't a pet, she was family and he must be at her side.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Louise entered her room and closed the door with a slightly confused frown on her face. She wondered why no one had insulted her yet when she passed by, could it be that they felt shame when they had taunted her failed summon or was it that they are now feeling remorseful? She shook her head, it would be best not to raise false hope until proven otherwise. She looked up and gazed at her bed before she noticed something neatly folded on top of it. It was her clothes. Yesterday, it had been just a dirty laundry but now it had been washed correctly and thoroughly that it looked brand new not to mention dry. She gazed at the laundry basket and saw for the first time that it was as empty as she had first came here. Thinking back, there's just one person that she had met prior to being here: the maid Siesta.

'_Could she have done this?_' She mentally asked herself before looking around. Not even a spot of dust or a stain of grime could be seen throughout the room. "Wow!" She couldn't help but exclaim at the maid's headstrong dedication to work. '_I have to thank her work later but for now._'

Louise then proceeded to arrange the clothes on the bed to her cabinet. Usually, maids are supposed to return the clothes to the cabinets but she however didn't want anyone peeking inside her drawers. Despite herself, she had started to hum as she placed her clothes to their rightful places. Barely ten minutes later, she had finished organizing her clothes and stood up with a pair of uniform and essentials.

Draping the curtains over the windows, she then begun to undress and head for the bathroom. The sounds of running water were audible in her empty bedroom as she hummed again while contemplating about the things that had happened to her. How and why had a commoner appeared at her summoning? What really happened to give the young girl so much bodily harm? Was it her spell? She shivered at the thought. Oh, how she wished that it wasn't her spell. If it was …

She bit her lower lip. If it was her spell that had hurt her, she should quickly apologize to the girl when she wakes up and take care of her until her full recovery. Guilt was heavy on her mind now before she forced herself to squash the feeling. Now was not the time for that, the question though was if she could summon again? And if it was someone else …

Anger now welled up within. If it was someone else then she will never stop looking for the person that had done so much harm, such torture to a young and fragile girl for such an act was not befitting of a noble and they must be put down like rabid dogs for such atrocities.

Riiiiipppp~!

Startled out of her reverie, Louise stared down at the torn sponge on her hands. She sighed and continued to clean herself but with a noticeable embarrassed flush on her face.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Siesta gazed at the roses on her vase before nodding to herself that the arrangement is complementary enough with the furniture around and with it at the center of the small old table that the maids use in their quarters. With a smile, she turned to fulfill more of her duties.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Checking herself at the full body length mirror, Louise felt herself oddly rejuvenated despite never being a morning person. True that bathing helped but she never felt this refreshed before. '_It must be the work of that potion,_' she thought, reminding herself to thank the potions maker later. After checking herself one more time she went outside and began walking back to the infirmary, to her sleeping familiar. As she remembered, today was the first of three days that they didn't have any classes as these days are used for the mages to get accustomed to their familiars. She concluded that she couldn't summon again as the sacred ritual was made by the founder himself and thus its rules must be followed to the letter. She walked nearer to the side and gazed down to the courtyard.

Her room was at the second floor of the dorm and despite the distance of half a school, it was still a pretty short walk down to the infirmary.

As she looked down she saw Guiche sleeping under a large shade tree with his giant brown mole, Verdandi if she recalled, under his left arm and whose head and front paws resting on his chest. He seemed to have been stroking his familiar but had immediately fallen asleep, '_Must be a tough night for him,_' she thought. Next she spotted the flame user, Kirche; anger welled up within her before she immediately smothered it, she didn't need to get mad at the mere sight of her despite the fact that the busty red head had usually upset her whenever the flame user saw her. A red flame shot out of Kirche's familiar temporarily blinding her from the afterglow but luckily, it wasn't even directed at her. When her vision cleared, her focus shifted to the central fountain at where Montmorency sat at the edge and with a few flicks of her wand she gathered a sphere of water, she narrowed her eyes and saw something inside that glimmering orb. It was Montmorency's familiar orange frog, Robin, swimming inside. She moved her gaze and saw Tabitha at another shade tree reading another book, what it was she couldn't find out as it was too far away; at her side is her majestic familiar, the infant dragon, Sylphid, sleeping at her right side. Tabitha moved her book to her left and began stroking the young dragon on the head.

Tearing her gaze away from the peaceful scenery, she then focused her attention ahead, toward the infirmary…

To her broken familiar…

The familiar reflected the mage or so the book said, but if her familiar was broken then did that mean that she was broken as well?

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Hearing the door creaking open then close, Professor Colbert turned around and saw the summoner. "Ah, Miss Vallière, I see that you are back."

"Professor?" It was already strange to see the Professor down here at the Infirmary once; it was even stranger still to find the same professor again at the same position as back then; thank goodness that it wasn't at the same time though otherwise she would think that back then was just a dream, a premonition. That or she might start to think that she was going crazy. She shook her head; such thoughts shouldn't flow through her mind. "Why are you back here again, Professor?"

"W-well … uhm …" He cleared his throat, a bit flustered to be caught off guard. "I came here to check on her, Louise, to see that she's all right. But since you're here now I guess I can finally leave for the headmaster's office." He bowed before he left to which Louise reciprocated.

Louise was still confused when he left but atleast she could be with her summon even without the contract yet. Now, time to plan ahead, who should she ask for another bed? That haystack was absolutely not befitting for a girl. Then again, her room was a bit small for two beds, perhaps she could ask for a larger one instead?

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

The green haired secretary looked up from her work and saw Professor Colbert walking toward her. She raised an eyebrow at his unexpected appearance but gave him her full attention none the less. "Good Morning Mr. Colbert." She greeted in faux cheerfulness.

"Good Morning too Miss Longueville." He greeted back.

Miss Longueville didn't bat an eye; the way that he said it could mean that there might be something important that he had to tell the headmaster.

"If you don't mind, I have to speak with Old Osmond about something. Is he available?"

"Yes, he is at the moment. Is there something that you would like for me to tell him about?"

"No, it's fine. I'll tell him myself." He answered.

Miss Longueville nodded and gestured for the door. One of the security perks of a magical school was that some of the doors needed security clearance from the personnel or in the case of the headmaster's room from his personal secretary; arguably, there are some doors that only the headmaster himself had the permission to enter let alone open up.

Professor Colbert gave her his thanks and without a second to spare, rushed towards the door and closed it behind him.

Miss Longueville sighed, peace at last but still, why was Professor Colbert so worked up? And by the way the she saw him, it seemed that he didn't even get any wink of sleep. Curious at that, at what secrets did Mr. Colbert possessed at his hands or rather his mind. She silently reached inside her left sleeve and with a barely audible whisper she flicked something inside and started to hear conversations at the other side of the room. Curiosity killed the cat as they say, but this cat knows on how to hide her curiosity well.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Old Osmond as he was well known to the point that he literally forgot his name and had absolutely no clue as to what his real name was but instead of pondering over it and act like a senile old man of which he was, he rather decided to take it all into stride and allowed his staff to call him Old Osmond instead. Sensing a presence he turned around from watching the students below and saw Professor Colbert walking up to him. "Yes, what is it Professor Colbert?" He asked; he knew of this Professor's tinkering mind and passionate thirst for knowledge for the betterment of their world and thus knew that whatever made this man come to him must have been absolutely serious.

"Sir, there is an unexpected development at the summoning ritual yesterday." Professor Colbert paused for a bit, waiting for the headmaster to interrupt; when he didn't he decided to continue. "Yesterday, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière had summoned a human; something that hadn't happened since the days of the Founder, sir."

"A human you say?" Old Osmond asked, raising an eyebrow. He expected some obscure mechanical designs but not this, and why in the name of the Founder was Professor Colbert at the summoning ritual instead of … Wait, ah yes, he ordered him to be the one to supervise the summoning.

"Yes, however that isn't just the girl being summoned sir; it is also in the state that she came in. She was heavily wounded sir, like she was tortured nearly to death. There are more than twenty lacerations; a couple of broken bones especially at the ribs and arms, her right eye had been swollen shut, and more than a fare share of second degree burns on her back and lower torso." Professor Colbert stated, wording the grievous wounds that the child had sustained. "Sir, it is nearly a miracle that she survived at all."

"Oh dear, oh dear…" Professor Colbert was stunned; he hadn't seen the headmaster this worried before. "Did Miss Vallière's summoning harm the young child?"

Professor Colbert knew that this question was coming. "No, luckily it looks more like Louise saved her by summoning."

"I see… good. We must conduct an investigation and ask the girl where she came from and had the government punish the one who had done such terrible things to her." Old Osmond ordered with clarity on his nearly faded blue eyes.

Professor Colbert had made a promise before, a promise to protect the people and to use his magic for good and justice, and not for selfish purposes or acts of evil. And if he found out who had done such a thing to her; by his own life he will **BURN **the infidel to ashes! A promise that he, the Flame Snake of long ago had promised himself, a promise that he had unwittingly broken and now renewed, he will not make the same mistake that he did back then as now he was no longer under orders except his own. No longer blinded and hindered by the government that he once served, he won't make the same mistake twice. But still, there was another curious thing about the recovering girl at the infirmary.

"There is another thing I wanted to talk to you about her, Old Osmond;" stated Professor Colbert, returning them back to the previous topic. "Another peculiar thing about her is her fast regeneration. Madam Pomfrey had taken note of this too in fact it is as if she wasn't in any life threatening injuries by the end of the day and she would likely come around back tonight nearly healed but -."

"Oh? Could it just have been one of Madam Pomfrey's potions?"

Professor Colbert shook his head "Unlikely, this happened when we are carrying her to the infirmary." The flame mage returned his sights back at his notes. "Also, there is this peculiar thing about her bones. It is as though her skeletal structure had been cast in metal and when I along with Madam Pomfrey had done a few blood samples, we found some very interesting and exotic chemicals that should have killed her already. Fortunately, the potions that she had been given have no ill effects on her."

Old Osmond began stroking his beard, deeply in thought. "Interesting, she could be a survivor of some hideous experiment." He then straightened himself. "Give her the best you can to make her comfortable."

"As you wish Old Osmond"

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Siesta hummed as she went through her rounds using the tune that she heard since her Awakening. It was a melodious sound filled with life but at the same time it also felt like it had lost its meaning like a toy that was once favored before during childhood and then thrown away at adulthood.

Yes, it had lost its meaning; to the nobles at least for they only care about themselves and their titles as the song had no place for such things as it was sung with the hardships and the woes of a common man. No one knew the complete version of the song as it seemed to be ever fleeting like the passing wind that can be felt but cannot be touch. Siesta closed her eyes, inhaled deeply and stretched her body; this song always energized her core, allowing her to complete more of her work with a never ending vigor.

She opened the door to the infirmary to do her rounds at cleaning the stained glass windows. "Ms. Vallière, it is a surprise to see you here." She exclaimed, bowing her head in greeting and respect. Then again she has a reason to be here since the girl she summoned was staying here as well.

"Likewise." Louise replied. "Tell me, what brings you here?" Louise had been quite bored right now just watching the girl sleep through her injuries and regretting the fact that she forgot to bring a book to at least entertain her or distract her. A thought ran inside her head when she looked at the maid who stood there preparing to at least throw the garbage away. "Siesta, if you don't mind, will you get some of my books from my room and find me someone who can replace my bed for a larger one? I don't want my familiar to sleep in the haystack since she's a human being."

Upon hearing that, Siesta actually beamed. '_So she does care about us_.' "I don't mind at all Miss. Vallière and I will see what I can do about the bed." With that she bowed again, much lower this time and showing genuine respect before leaving to follow a direct order before doing her rounds.

Louise blinked, '_Well, I thank the founder for her eagerness_.' With that thought, she returned her attention at the sleeping child prior to her unconsciously rubbing her index finger to the girl's left cheek. '_She looks so peaceful and I hope that her life previous to being summoned is too_.' She bit her lip, '_No! I'm a __Vallière. I should not let myself be overcome by emotion such as this one._' She mentally reprimanded herself before moving away but she kept the hand at the girl's head. She leaned back against her chair and sighed, staring at the ceiling wondering how long it would take the maid to get back here with her books.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Siesta practically skipped her way to the noble girl's dormitory and went inside. She smiled at how tidy the miniature girl was at keeping her room in order. She was quite amazed at this yesterday as she saw on how and where she kept her things without having said things on the floor strewn about as if a miniature tornado had decided to play in said room. She sighed; she absolutely cannot say the same for the other nobles who rely on maids like her all the time to clean it up and the worst of all was that they blame the maids if their rooms are still dirty, not caring about the staff being undermanned.

'_No, I shouldn't daydream like that_.' She reminded herself that she had an order to fulfill first. "Now, where are they?" she asked herself while scanning the room for a certain desk before moving towards it. The desk wasn't too small or too large, it is just enough for a growing student to study peacefully. At the corner on the upper left side was a pile of books above a row of books that are leaning on the wall. She looked at the titles of the books, thinking of what she should bring with to Ms. Vallière and was quite surprised at the books on the little girl's table. They were the books that she herself also reads. She looked a little closer; Correction! They were the continuation of the books that she had been reading! She gulped, and suppressed the urge to read them right here. Valiantly taking her eyes off it, she turned her head, grabbed said books and ran out the door. She had traveled halfway across Halkeginia just to find these books and now that she found it, she can't even read them. Oh, the Irony of it all!

A thought appeared as she tried to walk down and not run across the hall, how could someone as small as Louise read something as raunchy and sinful as this one? After all, this novel was made to be read by males.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

HOT!

Why? Why is it so hot?

And why is she running?

She didn't know why it is hot, nor does she know why she is running. But she does know that she is feeling both nervous and impatient at the same time. She jumped, barely missing a giant pulsing flower. She looked ahead, stopped, and found out why the air was trying to burn her skin. Upfront and below her was a bubbling and glowing liquid that she knew instinctively would burn her at the slightest touch.

A roar from behind reached her ears and gaped when she saw the same liquid heading towards her! Never missing a beat, she bolted up and ran, dodging anything and every mechanical being that appeared to harm her. A bolt of fire fell down and she rolled aside nearly missing it and leaving her shoulder with a scar. She saw the door and hope filled her. She moved faster, fully knowing what is coming towards her at the other direction. She jumped to the door and it closed behind her.

She breathed a sigh of relief that was until she heard the same roar in another direction. She looked towards it and saw the same glowing flood. "Not again!" She screamed and began to run away. "What did I do to deserve this?" She roared in exasperation, wishing to enlighten the mood.

"May I answer that?" Asked an amused voice inside her head; apparently someone inside her was finding this situation quite amusing. A figurative vein popped on her head.

"NO FEFNIR!" She answered back as she gritted her teeth.

Strange, it wasn't her voice that she heard herself say and who was this Fefnir?

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

She opened her eyes and straightened her back; she looked around and found out that she's still at the infirmary. "Wha…?" She blinked and rubbed her eyes. 'I'd fallen asleep?' she mentally asked before answering herself with negativity, 'But that's not right, I'd just recently woke up here earlier and …' her inner monologue was abruptly stopped when the door opened and the maid Siesta entered, blushing and panting hard.

Siesta panted, the temptation to read was making her run here to avoid getting sidetracked from her mission. She then took a deep breath and walked straight to Miss Vallière. "Here Miss Vallière," she blurted, handing her the books with outstretched, trembling hands while at the same time bowing her head with closed eyes.

It was comical to say the least.

Louise just gaped at her and wordlessly took the books. The maid looked like she had seen something too nasty to describe.

Siesta stood up, blushing all the while as she rubbed her palms then she took a deep breath and decided to risk it. "Uhm… Miss Vallière, I know that it is out of place but is it all right for me to ask for something?" She looked away, she knew that it was embarrassing but if it works it would be worth it.

"S-Sure," said Louise, "What is it that you might need?"

"W-Well, may I borrow that book after you'd finished it?" She bowed low; she was desperate to say the least.

"Of course."

She looked up and beamed at her before moving close to hug her. Louise blushed herself. "Thank you ma'am!" She squealed. "I will take care of the bed for you." She added then disappearing behind the door.

Louise just stood there gaping like a fish. "What just happened?"

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

Once again Professor Colbert walked down the halls preparing himself for another trip to the library to do his own research of the young girl. Then again, he was the only one researching about the mysterious girl that came suddenly out of nowhere. He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes, closing them for a bit as he walked.

"Look out!" A voice rang.

Suddenly startled out of his reverie, he opened his eyes, widening them when he saw the large wooden bed frame heading towards him. He then tried to move to the side, tripped, and fell face first to the floor. Embarrassing was definitely an understatement here as no one expected a teacher to be this clumsy, heck Professor Colbert was known to have perfect balance and keen senses to the point that it was impossible to surprise him. But the fact remained that this young maid had done just that in less than a day, accidentally too as a matter of fact. He stood up and rubbed his nose before he finally got a good look at the maid right in front of him. He blinked again, this time in disbelief at what he saw, it was Miss Siesta carrying two bed frames, one in each hand, that are essentially larger than her and more than likely, heavy. '_Just how strong is this girl?_' "Miss Siesta, why are you carrying two bed frames?"

Siesta blinked and turned her head to the side a bit. "Miss Vallière asked me to find a larger bed for her room, since she doesn't want her summon to sleep in a stack of hay."

A plausible explanation. Professor Colbert nodded his head. "I see, please carry on." Both Maid and Professor bowed to each other before moving their separate ways, one completely mystified at the strength of the other while the other is oblivious to the spell that she metaphorically casted, after all, no one had ever seen nor heard of a maid that could do pretty much everything in a small amount of time not to mention lift two heavy frames all by herself.

**=She who Holds their Souls=**

She sighed as she closed the book and gazed outside, it was already nightfall. She doesn't wish to leave her familiar's side but she had to sleep after all. After gathering the books that the maid Siesta had fetched for her, she then stood up and walked outside, after a brief glance towards the heavy sleeper, she closed the door and marched towards her room.

She entered and closed the door as a few things began to piece together in her mind, all of them about the book that she had the maid find for her, all of them about whom the girl in the book would be with till the end of their days. She began to undress, a ritual that her mother had taught her since she was young as the clothes for sleeping are different from the clothes for daytime activities. She looked up and gasped, she hadn't noticed it before but the bed had doubled in size. She smiled; she'd have to thank that maid and her accomplice for their hard work, '_I can take that I have a reason now to let her borrow the books_.'

**A/N:**

Longueville may be an earth mage but that doesn't mean that she can't cast lower tier spells of other elements

Siesta carried the bed one handed

Colbert was surprised at how fast the girl was healing from her injuries

**A/N2:**

WoW! Just a day after I posted the first Chapter, when I opened my Email there were people waiting for me to post the next chapter; I was shocked to say the least since I never had people waiting for me before.

Take note I had never watched Zero no Tsukaima and I am getting the information from the fanfictions here in fanfictiondotnet.

Also I'm quite sure by the time I posted 'a something major' here a few will get angry from the story. Can't say what it is yet though.

Thanks to VT for giving me insights. So the story that I can write vary from a 'dark yet awesome', to 'silly yet effective', to 'sociopathy', to 'one hit killers'. In all of those I think I should just bit some of 'em and see what happens.

To be Inspired to make is just one step, to be inspired again is another, but if it was an idea of your own then be prepared to leap ahead.

Trailer:

Da ze~.

MUKYU~!


	3. Chapter 03: To the Waking Dream

**Chapter 03: As seen Through a Child's Eyes / The Gaze of Innocence**

**.**

_It's magic._ – Louise

**.**

Soft …

It was so soft …

She opened her eyes and sat up on her bed, empty eyes gazing at nothing in front of her. She yawned, trying to get the sleep off of her before she stretched her back and got a satisfied feel as she heard and felt her spinal bones straighten. She got out of bed, and walked zombie like towards a different door. This is what she liked the most in the Guardians' HQ, a separate room unlike the barracks of the transporter's, a separate shower room with warm water not like the cold industrial like baths of her previous employment. She didn't need to open the door as it opened up when she stepped in front of it; the pressure pad located at the bottom of the floor allowed anyone to just waltz in with no interruption unless there is someone inside using it. She wore a small beige tank top and olive green shorts that fit well to her small frame.

She stepped inside; light immediately began flooding the entire room without the need to press a switch or verbally use a voice command. Everything is completely automatic from the water faucet on the sink which immediately activated when she placed her hands underneath, to the lights, and even to the bathtub that immediately began to fill with a tiny 'beep' at the moment she stepped inside and two beeps to signify that it was full. She collected the water in her hands before splashing it to her face to remove the sleep before looking up and facing the mirror in front of her. Green eyes stared directly into her own orbs and dark brown locks accentuated her face snugly; as such was the mirror's purpose, to show one's own reflection. Centuries of technology or perhaps millennia or more still cannot compare to the good old fashioned mirror. Opening the cabinet, she took her toothbrush and toothpaste before cleaning up her teeth; some things cannot change after all such as the brushing her teeth due to being too personal or humanity's stubbornness to do it themselves than rely on machines.

After she had finished cleaning her teeth; she removed her clothes, placed it at the cleaning bin, before going to the shower and pressed at the controls, this the only thing that she really wanted to be in a manual setting, there's nothing more refreshing than the feeling of the hand on the surface of the shower switch, unfortunately she couldn't ask for a rotary switch. A gentle trickle went down her face and she released a relieved sigh echoing someone inside her heart that felt the same pleasure to feel the running water on her cheeks and on her body. Taking the liquid soap and sponge, she lathered it up and began rubbing it to her body before picking up a tune or rather humming the tune that the other soul in her is singing to its heart's contents. She was about to sang the song of her other soul, that is until two hands snaked up her body and hugged her chest.

"Oh, hello Aile~!" The blonde female intruder nearly sang and bit on the young girl's ear.

Naturally, Aile screamed…

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

"Kyaaahhh~!" Louise screamed as she fell from her oversized bed. She gritted her teeth while a blush crept up her face as her head was at the bottom while her flailing legs are still on her bed. Trying to right herself up, she only managed to succeed with exposing her lower body up to her abdomen as her night gown fell to her face. She blushed more at that before finally blowing up. "AAARRRG!" She stood up, no longer caring if what she's doing right now is graceless or unbefitting of a Vallière but she had had it with the stupid insults, all of her failures, and the weird dreams. And right now she had to vent it. "Stupid people, for pissing me off!" She roared as she picked up the bed sheet and tossing it at the bed. "I'm a Vallière DAMMIT!" She swore, anger entering her voice. "And I will not let ANYONE bully me AROU-wahhh!" She tripped when her foot got caught at the same bed sheet. "OW! RAAARH! Stupid maid for being too helpful! Oh wait, not the maid." She grabbed a pillow and threw it at the bed. "Stupid Familiar for not waking up!" She blushed again when she remembered her dream then silently pulverized it; she looked down and saw the novel that she had fallen asleep with. "Ok, maybe the maid too!" She then picked it up and threw it at the bed, actually she didn't really blame the maid but rather the book that she was reading, and it is just a coincidence that the maid wanted to read it too. She heard a ripping sound and looked at her back; a tear on her night dress was visible from the lower hem to her upper buttocks as it seemed to have gotten caught on furniture and with another round of frustrated growl she then began to rip her gown off of her; well, as literal as a tiny kitten trying to play with a yarn ball. Now with a face that can make a tomato pout and cry; she threw her ruined night gown at her bed before pointing at it and screaming. "And I've had had it with the stupid dreams about my Familiar!"

And that's when the door burst open.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

'_This had gone far enough_,' Kirche thought as she marched straight to Louise's room. She was worried when she saw the little pinky collapse two days ago when she saw the human familiar all bloodied and torn like she was played like a toy to be broken. She shivered at the thought, a noble that did something as hideous as that isn't fit to be called a noble at all. Despite her constant nabbing at Louise, she can't bring herself to hate the girl; it is like she was drawn to her, drawn like a moth to a flame. She raised her right arm to knock but she froze in place when she heard something that sounded like a scream, not wasting anytime, she turned the knob and was surprised that it was actually unlocked but she ignored it and focused her attention on Louise. "Louise what happened? Are you all ri…?" She trailed off as she saw the state of dress that Louise is in or rather the lack thereof.

Louise stood there with her left hand pointing at the bed with her right hand at her hips. Louise's face was so flushed that she could make a tomato run for its money as she stared at Kirche in her birthday suit.

Needless to say, Kirche added two plus two and got something that is mathematically impossible. Not like they know what math is nor its advanced versions, if they knew what it was then more than probable, none of this would have happened and Kirche wouldn't see a naked Louise. So she did something that any noble with a decent mind would do.

She closed the door.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

Louise stood there stark naked, staring at Kirche, both of them imitating the golems that Guiche makes around for a full five second s before Kirche moved and closed the door. Louise didn't move for a few more seconds before curling herself into a ball, her hair enclosing her already pinkish body like the sepals of a budding flower. '_Oh God! This is so embarrassing!_' She thought as tears fell down her face. Why? Why does all of this things are happening to her? WHY? All of those questions running on her head but she cannot even answer one of them.

Is she really just a failure?

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

Kirche jogged away from Louise's room and right now she can tell that the little Vallière is having a fit, she sighed, why does every time that she tried to help the little girl it always ends up in embarrassing situations? Not for her thank goodness but still …

She halted that thought and shook her head; she will have to apologize to Louise later today and explain why. This is more than a feud between families. This is a friend reconciling with another friend.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

The room only had basics of basics, a few furnishings here and there, a small bed, and a lonely painting. The only personal touches to the otherwise barren room are the books stacked high inside a bookshelf. The girl was an avid lover of books, as the books are the only thing that let her feel free, free from the emptiness in her heart, free from the thirst that she doesn't know on how to fill, And free from the obligation that she had no chance of escape.

Tabitha opened her eyes and gazed at the outside view her window, she didn't stood up but rather just let herself lay down on the bed, she removed her eyes from it and gazed at the ceiling. All of her peers thought of the little girl as nothing more than a human doll, incapable of making neither emotions nor expressions but the truth is far deeper than that. Years ago this young girl is nothing more than a child that dreams and plays to her heart's contents. But now look at her, everything that happens around her is nothing more than an inconvenience as if there is something that she must do, that she have to do but is unfortunately unable to do what she wished as if there is a chain, an unbreakable chain that is stopping her from her goal.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

At first she didn't took her eyes away from the ceiling but the tapping persevered so she slowly looked at it but disinterest still rested on her eyes. It was her wind dragon Slyphid, tapping the window with her beak. Tabitha stood up and went to the window, opening it up for her companion. It let out a purr of delight as she stroke the magical beast's head. She smiled a bit but hid it the instant that it came out. "We're you waiting for me?"

It let out another purr before it opened its mouth and said. "Yes big sister."

Tabitha's eyes momentarily widened before it disappeared.

The dragon seemed to smile as it noticed her master's surprise. "Yes big sister. Ikurukuku was taught by her mother to speak," was the dragon's reply.

Tabitha stared at her familiar more in silence as she absorbed this information. Her mind trying to find the implications of a talking dragon and all of them very bad; she then turned around and hastily put on her uniform clothes.

"Big Sister?" The great dragon asked, confused at her master's movements.

"Shhhhh…" Her summoner responded, harsher than she wanted to or was it accidental?

"But…" he master's words dug deeply to her feelings. "I…"

"Shhhhh …" Tabitha repeated, much softer this time. She didn't mean to upset her familiar but they had to hurry. She had to keep her silent especially from other people.

To hide her from the cruelty of the world.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

"It's no use…" Guiche said in a tired voice for the umpteenth time as he stared down at the floor to where his familiar Verdandi is waddling about, sniffing the floor for any scent that the giant mole might pick up as well as see from its own vantage point. He had found out about his familiar's particular obsession with shiny things which worked both with advantages and disadvantages of its own. The advantage is that sometimes his familiar would appear with something particularly shiny in its hands, ranging from just shiny stones to genuine precious gems and gold that people had lost, and right now he is using that advantage as from his familiar's point of view can see underneath some furnishings and more than likely see the glint of the item that he was looking for. On the other hand it has also its disadvantages like now.

"Heeey~! Give that back!" Ordered a blond noble with a single ahoge as he ran to the giant mole with his right hand outstretched which Guiche's Verdandi deftly ignored.

Guiche looked down at his familiar when it came up to his legs and presented the wire framed glasses with its paw. Her master sighed at this, but never scolded her for it but he took the glasses without a word. Sure the glasses are shiny but it isn't what he is looking for. He then looked at the panting noble who had stopped sometime ago in front of him. "Sorry about that Reynald." He said and handed the glasses back to the other. "We were looking for something and I told her that it was something shiny."

"It's fine, no harm done." Reynald replied as he put on the glasses. He was slightly younger than Guiche with emerald, disbelieving yet calculating eyes; he was a melancholic type of person who would follow direction with suspicion and would instead opt for his own way to solve the same problem. "What were you looking for anyway I might help you out on it."

Guiche considered it for a second but decided against it; it would be better if no one got involved with the mess he made, after all, Montmorency had a very fiery temper despite being a water mage and as a matter of fact, her specialty only made it worse. "Nah, it's fine, I can manage on my own." If he is going to dig his own grave, he'll rather make sure that it was only him digging his own grave and not dragging others down with him.

Reynald narrowed his eyes; instinct telling him that something is obviously up. "Well, if you need anything I'm just around the corner."

Guiche knew that his friend had picked up something right that instant, he only hoped that his friend would just stay away and save himself than help him and make it worse. Good thing that he didn't show what he was thinking though. "All right, I'll find you when I'm getting desperate."

Reynald nodded then walked away without looking back.

'_That was close_.' Guiche thought as he started walking towards Montmorency's room; to where everything began.

Unbeknownst to him, Reynald actually back tracked and gazed around the corridor to look at him. Wondering what was going on to have Guiche this dedicated to something. Usually he would flirt with the girls but if something like this happened he knew that there's something up like when Guiche had promised a girl something or another, he never stops until he had fulfilled it. Seven out of ten it is just trivial, the other three ended in something nearly disastrous and would usually involve Miss Zerbst, the girl named Tabitha, Guiche's girlfriend Montmorency, or the third Vallière daughter Louise the Zero. In the other three, sixty percent of it would only be directed at Guiche due to Miss Zerbst or Tabitha; the other forty? Always ended up with a wide area-of-effect concussive blast from the Zero or a linear effect from Guiche's own girlfriend; of the latter two, four out of five are from the potions master Montmorency.

Founder forbid if it was from the remaining one fifth.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

"It's not here, it's not here." Montmorency chanted as she looked around her room. Clothing and other accessories are strewn about as she looked for the item that her beloved Guiche had given her, or rather the last from the box that Guiche had given her. She rubbed her gleaming forehead, quite frustrated now since she wouldn't get to use it for him. Out of all the gifts that her Guiche had given her this last gift had a lasting effect that makes him think of her whenever he caught a trace of it. She had tried every method available including the spell on how to make items appear. The spell however had a slight disadvantage in that it can only find something if the lost item is missing in less than twenty four hours. After a while of endless searching, she had given up. She then lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling as her body started to cool down and her mind to wander about.

Still centering her thoughts on the thing that she had lost; she then thought of who might have it, could she have had dropped it somewhere? Had someone found it? Or could it be that someone had stolen it? It is possible that someone had stolen it but she had only allowed Guiche to enter her room. And it was he who had given it to her so it is absurd for him to take it without explaining why.

She groaned then walked to the door. She was surprised to say the least when she saw Guiche sitting there at the ledge watching the scenery with a very thoughtful look on his face while his familiar mole Verdandi was moving about like it was looking for something. "Guiche?" She asked.

At first he didn't move like his mind was preoccupied with something important than her then but when he did look at her, his face now had a haunted look as if he had seen something that he should not. "Mo-Montmorency." He stuttered, it is like he doesn't want to see her right now.

Montmorency blinked, Guiche had never stuttered before especially when in front of her as most of the time it is usually full of confidence and recklessness as if he can win from any situation, and more than once it borders on arrogance. There must be something wrong for him to act like this. Worry appeared on her face when he didn't move and instead he chose to just stand there like he just saw his own life flashing before his – NO! Stop thinking like that! What has gotten over me to think like he's about to get killed for something! Speaking of something… "Guiche, do you remember the present you gave me a few months ago?" She expected his boyfriend to strike a pose in front of her right now and please her with sweet nothings before giving his trademark rose.

She certainly didn't expect him to look paler than before. "Ah! The present? Of course, why do you ask?"

Confused at his uncharacteristic mannerism but she pressed on nonetheless, "Well, there was still one more of those last time I checked, I was going to use it right now but I unfortunately lost it somewhere, will you look it for me?"

Guiche's expression suddenly softened and he returned back to the Guiche that she had known about. "Of course~! For my dear Mon-mon, I will do anything."

Montmorency's left eye twitched, she was still not used to being called Mon-mon but by his gesture a while ago she'll let it slide, for now at least. And with a few more gestures, she went on her way to the fountain to train with her familiar frog.

Unbeknownst to the two lovers, Reynald was peeking around the corner and was spying on them with an intense gaze. At least he wouldn't have to worry about another explosion. And what's with the present that Guiche is so riled up? No matter, if it's Montmorency he doesn't need to worry about it.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

If there is one place that Louise would be, it would be here. Kirche stood at the front door of the infirmary; thinking of what she should say to Louise to earn her apology before she opened said door and walked inside. It had long been known that the families of the Vallière and the Zerbst have a long standing rivalry between them, sparked when the Zerbst had taken away the betrothed of a Vallière. But Kirche was beyond the petty rivalries of their families and would rather not think about such things despite what her peers think of her and the pinkette Louise. No, she absolutely despised the thought of discrimination and the raw hate that made it.

Hate begets discrimination, discrimination causes wrath, and wrath leads to more hate.

Such is the cycle of the never ending turmoil in the society of Halkeginia. She knew of the building anger of commoners that had been trampled upon, she knew of the pain and misery the nobles had caused to the people that they think are lower than them as she had seen it first hand and was disgusted by what she saw. She then made up her mind, when she finally inherited her family's lands she would ensure that her subjects would be treated equally.

But for now, she had to deal with Louise and eliminate whatever problem that the both of them had in between. She just hoped that it was just water under a bridge and not an impassable rock between them.

She saw Louise on her chair reading silently as she stayed vigilantly by her soon to be familiar's side. She seemed to be too engrossed in her book as she didn't even notice her arch-enemy/ tormentor/ friend walking straight to her and cleared her throat. Startled out of her reading, Louise could just blink as her sights lay upon Kirche before anger and embarrassment settled on her features. She couldn't help it. Whenever the two of them meet each other on occasion, anger would well up within her like a tiny dormant volcano awakened from the mere presence of a Zerbst near it. "What do you want." It was stated, not asked as she already knew that this Zerbst would want something from her and the amorous red head will never take no for an answer.

"I want nothing Louise, I just simply -." Unfortunately, she was cut off from her explanation.

"That's a lie; there is always something that you want from me. If not what I have, it would be my pride …" she stated as she lowered her gaze as she remembered the verbal abuse that she always have to go through day by day in this cage posing as an academy, "my dignity …" her words softened as she clutched the book tightly to her chest, "my happiness …" never once in this academy had she smiled, always, her expressions are teeth grinding frustrations and outright anger but restrained enough to prevent herself from hurting anyone, "And now are you going to take my hope too?" Kirche was here, so she knew that she would tease her about her human soon-to-be-familiar and claim that Louise had paid a fallen noble to pretend to be her familiar so that she wouldn't be expelled from the academy and disowned and that the wounds are self inflicted to prevent any suspicions from their peers.

Kirche was alarmed to say the least; she didn't know that things had escalated this bad already. "W-what are you talking about? I'm not here to take anything from you, Louise." She replied, hoping that she would not lose her otherwise this would be her greatest failure in life. And if she did fail here then how will she be able to be a fair noble to the ones that work for her? "As a matter of fact Louise, I am here to apologize." She reasoned, her voice a bit softer now as she sighed, exhaling all of her tensions from her body.

"Apologize? Apologize for what?" Louise asked incredulous while biting her lower lip as she wished for the Germanian's words to be true. But she cannot lower her guard, too many times had she fallen for the same trick over and over that she had began to doubt each gesture of kindness that had been given to her as if it was some sort of ruse.

"About what I did a while ago and … what I had said a few days ago." She looked up and closed her eyes, building up the confidence to tell Louise her feelings right now. She gazed back down at her, "well, would you mind if I explain about why I did all of those?"

Louise nodded.

"To tell you the truth, I did all of those and said those harsh words so that you will grow stronger and study harder, I have seen all of your spells explode on you Louise and I want you to find the cause of it and solve it."

"So you are taking pity at me?" Louise said between clench teeth. She hated it too when people took pity at her despite knowing that those people are only trying to help her by lightening her mood but instead it only made it heavier much like what Kirche had done; literally.

Kirche wished to smile at the moment but knowing Louise's explosive anger she had to suppress it. She shook her head, "not at all Louise, not at all. Think of it more as an encouragement than outright pity."

None of them saw the maiden's hand twitched.

Louise looked down, conflicted by two kinds of emotions; one wanted to lash out, screaming at the top of her lungs, asking how could that be an encouragement when those insults are tearing her apart, another wanted to cry in relief that it was just to help her but wanted to know why they did such a horrible thing. Between the two she chose neither, for acceptance is something that she cannot yet afford. "I do wish to accept … but you can't prove your claims, Miss Zerbst."

'_Miss Zerbst?_' Kirche was taken aback by Louise's reply, it had taken her months to be on a first name basis with her but now it was deconstructed in less than a day. "But why Louise?" She asked now fully knowing that it wasn't water under their bridge of friendship but a giant rock that she had to dig through.

"Because you can't prove it, Zerbst." Louise replied as she stared at her with glassy eyes. "I may not show it much, but you have wounded me … deeply." Was her reply as she turned her gaze to the girl on the bed who seemed oblivious to the happenings around her.

"I – I see …" was Kirche's disappointed reply. "I'm sorry, Louise." '_There's still some hope. She didn't force me to call her Vallière_.' She thought; if there is something that people cannot abandon, it is hope.

Louise shook her head. "I don't want your words Kirche, I want your actions." She voiced with an air of authority. "Prove to me that you won't hurt my feelings again." She didn't know it but Kirche's quite glad that she'd still call her by her first name.

What Louise was thinking of next was silenced when she heard an unfamiliar moan and the rustling of fabric. She looked at the bed …

And saw the girl open her left eye to the new world.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

It was strange …

It was strange as she can hear two people arguing but she cannot make heads or tails of it; not even the grammar, sentence structure, or the words used. For all she knew about languages which is a total of four since her previous job as a transporter required her to know different languages so she can understand different people, she can clearly say that I sounded like the long extinct language of French as she and the others at the Guardian base uses codenames based on French, heck, even her own name is French which means Wings in English but despite that, none of them knew the full French language, only bits and pieces of it.

She moaned and slowly opened her left eye as her right one felt to be too injured at the moment then she adjusted to the glow of the afternoon sun. When she can correctly see again she saw two girls, well … one girl and one young woman. The girl with her pink hair just stared at her with wide eyes and a book clutched tightly to her underdeveloped chest, while the young tanned woman with a fiery red hair that reminded her of Cèdre just stood there rooted to the spot. She then gazed at the ceiling; she was a bit confused when she saw hardened wood instead of concrete or steel, even more so when the wood looked a bit TOO natural like it had no implants when it was a tree before being harvested. "Where am I?" She asked but her voice croaked and her mouth was dry.

'_Guys?_' She asked in her thoughts as she tried to feel the biometals inside but got no response.

Her voice had startled the two out of their daze. And immediately, the pink haired one ordered the other and without a second thought the older of the two moved and rushed out the door. Her vision retuned back to the younger girl as she placed a warm hand to her forehead while a warm smile graced her features like she was relieved.

And for some odd reason, the pink haired girl's relieved smile seemed to relax her greatly.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

Professor Colbert hummed to himself as he contorted the metal rings before cooling them on their place on his tiny little contraption, sure right now it is just a toy that uses fire magic to move using the pressure of heated air, then again, it can even moved without fire magic as the magic itself is only required to light the oil inside the device. The whole mechanism of it is to make the pressure flow to a predesigned place to inflate the tiny snake toy before deflating a second later by the vacuum inside, created when the air is forcefully removed by the depressurization of the place by pistons. Pleased by his work, he then moved his finger and a tiny flame flickered into existence an inch away from his index finger. He then slowly lowered it, quite anxious that it might explode like his couple of experiments days ago.

After all, Louise isn't the only one in the academy who had things explode in her face regularly.

The door suddenly opened, hitting the wall with such force that he had to arch an eyebrow at the intruder's rudeness. He flicked his hand and the tiny flame disappeared before he looked to the side to see who I was.

Miss Zerbst stood there panting heavily as she leaned on her shoulder to steady herself. "Professor Colbert!" She gasped as she tried to steady her rhythm. "The girl at the infirmary had awakened." She informed and got an immediate response.

Professor Colbert moved swiftly, easily forgetting about the mechanical construct that he had made at the table. He stood up, dusted himself, and washed his hands but he then noted on how dirty he was. "Miss Zerbst, please head there first, I'll soon be with you." He didn't reasoned why but then as a professor, he didn't need to.

With a nod, Kirche turned around to leave the professor's workshop but was startled when she heard and felt the tremors of an explosion. "Oh, Dear God!" She whispered before she ran away.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

'_Damn that Kirche!_' Louise thought as some of her least known classmates had gathered inside and took her place from her, and with that she now stood to the side with her arms crossed on her body while at the same time tapping her right foot to the floor. "Dammit! Will you guys leave! She had just woken up!"

"Don't worry Louise, we aren't going to take her away," said one as he leered at the girl on the bed, "We're just having a good look at her."

Aile just sat up on her bed, she cannot move much as her body still hurts but that's just fine for she was quite confused as to why there are many people gathered around her like this; like she is some sort of entertainment or a caged animal inside a pet shop. Such thoughts had only managed to infuriate her more however, and despite her wish to at least punch one away, she couldn't as she found out that her right arm felt like a very large paper weight, sure she can feel it but the nerve endings are still in disrepair, luckily she can still move her fingers albeit weakly.

"That still doesn't solve the problem! Will you give her some space?" Louise shrilled; she hated it when people didn't listen to her.

"Oh, I think I know the problem," said a light brown haired kid. His surname was Sticks if she recalled. "She's worried that some of us might take away this young lady's kiss." He clarified, completely ignoring Louise's reasoning.

Louise's face flushed from embarrassment when she heard that. She wasn't worried about the kiss but rather the fact that they are quite too close especially to a girl's private space. The embarrassment quickly turned into anger however when the students who stood there started laughing themselves off. They should have noticed Louise's demeanor right now and stopped right there as her face looked like a cross between frustration, anger, and outright madness. '_I'll show them! I'm seriously going to show them!_' she thought with her shoulders ramrod straight as her patience finally cracked and fell into billions of fragments. Seriously, at this time they should have seen her as some sort of time bomb slowly ticking down. Then again in the middle of a technological backwater world, they don't have 'timed' bombs, only delayed.

And Louise was and still is one such bomb ready to explode.

In the quick span of two seconds, Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière drew her wand, casted the silence spell, and released the magic.

As expected from the pinkette, an explosion occurred nearly obliterating the entire place and bating everyone in smoke.

Then again that is what she was aiming at, an explosion, so that people will be blown away from her soon-to-be familiar. This in itself is punishable by school standards but fortunately for Louise and very unfortunate for them, there is a very large loop hole excusive only for her as this particular rule required the surrender of her wand to be checked for recent spells. And since Louise used a spell for silence instead of a spell that can cause bodily harm the teachers will have no choice but to let her go.

Also, if it worked, the silence spell is a sure plus as her first real spell.

"Ack! What was that?" A voice asked. A voice that Louise only heard of in her dreams.

The smoke cleared, and despite the unconscious people at the foot of the bed who had received the blunt of the explosion, she can't help but stare at the girl with singed hair on the bed at least it isn't sizzling like the people on the floor.

Whether it is luck or misfortune that they are still alive is up for debate.

"LOUISE!" Kirche yelled as she entered the infirmary but she didn't expect what she saw right there. People on the floor, Louise still standing, and the girl sitting on the bed.

Ok, maybe she did expect that.

"What happened here?" She asked, much calmer this time.

"I have no idea. Shouldn't we first try to wake them up and see if they're fine?" Asked the girl on the bed as she looked down at the pile of bodies while at the same time straightening her hair using her left hand as a brush.

Louise gasped at what she heard but to them, they thought that she's surprised at what she did.

"No, just leave them be. I'm quite sure they deserved it." Replied Kirche as she took a seat while Louise did the same.

"Oh?" Replied the girl as she arched an eyebrow. "Does this happen often?"

"I understand that!" Louise stated, cutting the conversation of the two like a hot knife thru butter.

"Hm? What do you mean by that Louise?" Asked Kirche.

"Her words; awhile ago she's speaking a different language." Explained Louise.

"Hey, you're right. I can understand you right now. Wait, that's impossible, I didn't even know French and I'm speaking it right now." The girl thought as she pondered over it.

"French? What language is that? No matter." Kirche said before changing the subject. "Anyway, Louise, it is quite a surprise that you managed to cast a spell correctly and a 'language spell' at that, though I'd have to say that you should do it a bit less explosive next time."

"Well … Kirche …" Louise hung her head, fully knowing what was to come. "It was supposed to be a silence spell."

"What happened here?" Professor Colbert asked as he entered from the destroyed door but before Louise could reply she was beaten to it by Kirche.

"It was a failed silencing spell, sir. These students," She pointed at the unconscious group on the floor, "are harassing the girl, and Louise wanted them to stop but they pressed on so she tried to use the spell. Unfortunately, like the other spells that Louise casts, it exploded and knocked them out. And for some odd reason, the spell backfired and allowed the girl to speak our language."

"Interesting, though you were with me when it happened," replied Professor Colbert, denying Kirche's story but not discrediting it. "Was that really happened?" He asked the girl at the bed. "Also if you two don't mind will you place these people to the beds over there?" He added, and the two immediately knew that it wasn't a request but this an order.

With a deft flick of their wands the four people slowly rose from the ground, they didn't stood up but rather floated away to be placed on the other four beds.

The girl gasped at what she saw. It is true that science, once that it has advanced far enough is indistinguishable from magic and she had seen things that she cannot even comprehend but this, this isn't something that you see every day, sure they have anti-gravity modules but she had yet to see any piece of technology from this place not to mention a miniaturized anti-gravity. "How did you do that?" she asked.

"It's magic. Didn't your parents tell you that? Or for that matter, didn't they teach you that only nobles can do magic?" Louise asked innocently, no knowing that she had hit a sore spot.

She looked down as a painful memory appeared on her mind. "No they didn't, my parents died when I was young."

"Oh…I-I'm sorry to hear that." Louise immediately shuts up after that.

Silence reigned in the room and none of the three of them wanted to break it.

"W-well, I think we should return to our previous topic on what happened here, though if you don't mind. May I ask who you are?" '_And what you are?_' Professor Colbert wanted to ask that though it seemed to be a highly inappropriate time right now.

The girl looked at him with her back straight as if giving a report to a senior officer. "I am Aile, Guardian First Class, Unlimited License, and former Delivery Expert. I serve directly under the command of The Guardian Commander Prairie." She then looked down as if lost in thought. "If you do not mind, may I ask where I am?"

Professor Colbert blinked at that, he honestly didn't expect that kind of answer from her. To be at the military at such a young age and under the direct command of the commander himself or herself no less. '_Could she have been under torture when she was summoned?_' He thought before replying, "You're at the Tristain Academy of Magic. Oh, I almost forgot, I'm Professor Jean Colbert, and if you don't mind me asking, what was your last memory before awakening here?"

Louise and Kirche just sat there at the side, waiting for the two to finish before they can finally talk to the girl, Aile as she called herself. After all, they too were curious as to what happened to her that gave her such wounds.

Aile took a moment to process this, looking inside her mind as she tried to remember what happened. "My final Mission was to storm the Slither Headquarters for their atrocities and destroy Model W. As to how I did it was confidential." She stopped right there, when she remembered that she had accidentally slipped a valuable information.

Kirche decided to speak her mind by this point. "If you do not mind my interruption, I would like to ask on how you got those wounds. You nearly died when you were summoned."

"Summoned? And as for these wounds I got them from a man named Serpent. Or rather a former man named Serpent." Technically, she already knew that everyone must have known that.

Professor Colbert raised an eyebrow when he heard it. "Former man? What do you mean by that?"

"Confidential," was her curt reply.

"I see," Gears began turning on his mind at the information that he got, as tiny as it is, it is already enough. "I'd better go and finish my experiment. Miss Zerbst, Miss Vallière, please introduce yourselves to her and Miss Vallière, I think it is fine now for you to make your contract with her on your room since a destroyed infirmary is not the ideal place for an injured girl, and as for the others I think they will come to, sooner or later." He finished as his mind finally started to wander. '_So, either the girl is not right in the head or she is really a soldier who fought a man that was turned into something via experiments and she survived with some horrific damage._'

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

Aile stretched her body and remaining functional arm before flopping herself down on the bed in habit, much like she had done back at the guardian headquarters after a long and strenuous mission. She looked out the window and saw the dark evening sky. She sat up on the bed and looked down at her scarred body, she sighed, sure she's still beautiful as her scars will be hidden underneath her clothes but that is not what she's thinking right now. '_Guys, why won't you respond?_' she asked, wanting to know what happened to her companions. Sure she can feel them inside her, but it is like they are lifeless weights inside.

Louise gazed at her, at Aile as the girl looked down at her body. Louise thought a bit as she looked at her. She looked worried like something was missing or rather was worried about the state of her body. She looked the girl up and down committing all of her in memory. Aile wore the standard white one piece hospital dress; it doesn't have any sleeves as those would only get in the way of the girl's medical treatment; while her right arm was no longer bandaged, it is still supported by a sling as if its bones were broken. She narrowed her eyes and saw something poking out of Aile's chest. '_Now I know why those people won't stop looking at her.' _She thought in disgust before her expression turned into a bit of glee, '_Good thing I blew them up._'

"Is it all right if I wander for a bit?" Aile asked. "I'll just look around"

"Sure, just ensure that you're here before curfew." Louise instantly replied, still stuck in her thoughts until she reviewed her words and came back to reality, she gasped, bolted out the door, and looked at both sides, '_She's gone! And she still doesn't have any underwear!_' she thought as panic sets in. Without another thought, she rushed to nowhere as the door closed silently behind.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

'_Had I died back then?_' Aile pondered as she gazed at the two large moons above. She can't help but let her thoughts drift away and make connections of unrelated things. For some strange reason she saw the farther crimson moon as the biometal Model Z, the memento of her beloved Giro who fell by her own hands due to Serpent's manipulation. She fought the urge to cry for him, as she knew that Giro would like to see her as a strong and capable fighter like he had been before. She then turned to the larger azure moon and saw not only Model X but also herself since Model X also represented her and her desire to help people. '_But now where is he? Where is Model X? And the other biometals too?_' She thought, it felt as if something was ripped apart from her. For her to no longer be able to hear them is the same as losing a family. She bit her lip, painfully this time as she forced her will to stop the images from flowing.

And her brother's sad smile …

A tear escaped, followed by another and another. She choked back a whimper and proceeded to wipe her eyes from that horrible memory, reviving a promise to not let it take control of her.

She then decided to return back but she stopped walking when her eyes caught something. It was a blue creature flying overhead and moving in impressive arcs. She shouldn't have seen it but her enhanced eyes allowing nothing to escape even from near total darkness of the night.

"There you are!" Declared a very familiar voice.

Aile looked to the side, to where the voice came from and saw Louise looking like she had just survived by outrunning a Spi-King, a weapon creature that had been recycled from numerous tires and spikes, not to mention that it was incredibly annoying. "Louise?" She asked.

The pinkette looked around then stormed directly to Aile before whispering. "You shouldn't have left! Especially when you don't have anything underneath that!" She then pointed at Aile's chest for emphasis.

Aile blinked and looked down before a blush crept to her face. She didn't notice that she had been walking around without that necessity, at leash she was sure that she's wearing her other undergarment.

Louise walked to the door and motioned for Aile to come. "Stay behind me all right." She gave the command and Aile can't help but nod her head.

**=At the Edge of the Sky=**

"Darn! This cloth is too stiff!" Louise huffed as she tried to remove the white dress that Aile wore. They had returned back to the dorm a while earlier, tired and already wishing for the comfort of Louise's extra large bed but before they do, Louise had suggested for them to take a bath first and was quite surprised when Aile doesn't mind doing it together. But her explanation was even stranger as she already bathed with other girls before in her previous employment.

She then took Aile's dirty clothes and placed it on a basket on top of her own and saw something quite peculiar about it. She compared the two of the garments and noticed that their sizes aren't all that different from each other. She blinked at that, '_Now that's a problem that solved itself_.' She thought, she had pondered earlier on what the girl would wear after this but now, the problem had solved itself. She'll let Aile borrow her clothes and uniform until they are allowed to travel to town and get some suitable clothes for her.

Aile removed the sling on her right arm and gently lowered her arm to her side before throwing away the sling to the basket of dirty clothes before looking at herself at the full body mirror. She did a scan and systems check on her reploid parts earlier and it responded in kind. The system check revealed a nearly functioning body with almost no damage to her nerves except for her right arm that showed several, severed motor nerves that will heal in a few weeks or so. The scan however, revealed a newly repaired body with several pocket errors detailing fractures that will need a few days to heal, luckily, her right eye will be repaired in less than two days. The focus in her remaining functioning eye returned and gazed at her naked self in the mirror once again, she needed to see the scars that had appeared on her body, most of it are centered around her chest and arms, clear signs that she had accidentally let her guard down at importune moments, but the most shocking of all was the large burn scar that covered her lower torso, she turned her back and looked, the burn was also there covering most of her back. Aile sighed in relief; at least she's not too badly hurt.

"Aile, why don't you come over here and I'll clean you up." Louise stated as she waved her arm, she would rather liked it if it was Aile who would clean her but unfortunately, she's hurt and Louise still feels guilty for summoning her despite the fact that it isn't her fault. She didn't know why but she felt like calling her summon by name instead of familiar, then again, it might be some sort of insult to the girl's pride if she called her that.

Aile turned around and faced the pink haired girl, pondering all the while why she isn't feeling shy in front of her like she had known her all this time, never the less, she moved toward the girl and allowed her to scrub her back after she felt the refreshing flow of water on her body. It is warm, just as how she liked.

Louise looked up from her scrubbing, Aile's back had become coarse and darkened from being burned but there's something peculiar that she hadn't noticed before. "Aile…"

"Hm…?" Aile responded, while keeping her mind occupied by testing and retesting her right arm and taking mental notes as to how damaged it had been.

"Why are your ears covered by metal?" She asked as she fingered said metal and tried to pull it away slowly but it wouldn't budge like it was welded into place, welded into her skin.

"Because they are my ears, Louise." She replied, before turning to the side and facing her, in turn allowing Louise to see one of them in full view. "You see … I came from another world, a world to which no magic exists and yet we managed to create things, things beyond your comprehension. I noticed it when I saw the two moons in the sky." Though she didn't include the zodiacs, as Louise might not know about it, not to mention irrelevant.

"Another world? But that's, that's impossible! The summoning should only be here in Halkeginia."

"I too would wish to ask that myself since the energy required would be tremendous to allow inter-dimensional or planetary travel." They stood up to rinse themselves before Aile was pulled to the tub. "Then again," she said, "I didn't mention or rather I didn't add the possibility of magic; which for me and the denizens of my world believed didn't exist and instead we used our minds to understand the world we live in and then we use the knowledge that we gained to make things that will not only benefit us but will also help the future as well." They stayed there in silence, letting Louise absorb what she heard from her before Aile raised a question of her own. "Louise, if you don't mind me asking, was it you who had summoned me? Because lately, I felt as if I had been too attached to you; and what does the professor mean by contract? And also, will I be able to return home world?" Beneath her line of sight, she can feel Louise fidget slightly, and hung her head to stare at the water; a sense of dread fell to her heart when she thought that she must have said something that didn't sit right with the longer haired girl. She blinked at that, why would she feel fear now?

Louise took a deep breath, exhaled shakily then gathered her courage. "Yes, it was me who summoned you though I fainted when I saw you covered with those wounds. Unfortunately, I cannot return you to your world as it is impossible to reverse the contract and not even Founder Brimir can do it. And thirdly, the Contract." She then looked at Aile straight in the eye, "The contract is when I bound my familiar … my summon to me, which in this case means that I have to bound you to me."

"I see … So I cannot return back." Aile said, a deep sadness in her voice. Louise cringe at that, after all, it was her fault that a girl was taken forcefully away. "And what would happen if I refuse?" She added as a precaution as it sounded a lot like slavery. '_Or a deal with a devil._'

Louise bit her lip and trembled slightly, she knew that Aile can feel it but she can't stop shaking. She pressed her arms close to her diaphragm with her fingers to her elbows as she tried to control herself. "I … I would be …" her voice was shaky and she swallowed before pressing on, "I would probably be kicked out of the academy, disowned by my mother, and live alone on some run down place." She then looked at Aile as she fought back the tears. "And you will be alone here on this world." She blinked, a lone tear fell down though she didn't notice it, "I … I'm sorry, I know that it is my fault that you're here against your will and I do not want to force you but … but …" Her words died in her throat as she choked back a cry.

With certain finality Aile only said two words, two words that will change Louise's life forever.

"I accept."

Louise gazed directly at Aile and her green eye. She looked closer to those orbs and saw the sheer determination in them, the determination to never back down even from an impossible challenge. "Wha …" She gasped as coherent thought disappeared from her mind.

"However, you must swear to me to let me make my own path, and to respect my decision." '_I knew it!_' Thought Aile, inwardly she groaned that she could no longer return but she refused to accept it. Deep down, there's always hope in her heart, thus giving her the will to always stand after falling; and this whole new world that she's stuck in? Nothing more than a minor nuisance.

Louise paused a bit; she looked deep inside herself to find the commitment for it, she flicked her hand and her wand flew to it. "I swear in my name, **Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière**." She then pointed her wand to Aile, chanted the spell, and with a deep breath she twisted her body to cover Aile's, placed her hands behind Aile's head and pressed her lips against hers.

"MMNNPPHH~!" Was the only sound that Aile could produce from this sudden development; she didn't expect this contract to end with a kiss much less on the lips. For many seconds she couldn't move nor think as her body froze in place and her mind to nearly shut down. The worst part of it all was that her mouth was open! No! '_Don't think about it! Don't think about it! Don't think about it!_' Her mind chanted, forcibly blocking all thoughts from distracting her mantra.

Louise wanted this to just be a chaste kiss, barely lasting a second. She really does not know what had overcome her to do this. Was it because of her desperation to finally have her familiar or was it a spur of the moment like what Aile said to her a while ago? No, she doesn't wish to find out as all thoughts disappeared when she felt her lips. The feeling was like two contradicting things, sinful yet sweet, a lie yet a truth, dead yet alive. A sudden feeling of exploration dawned but she didn't move, it felt like she might lose her at any second and opted to just stay in place, to never acknowledge the passing of time.

Sadly or fortunately, oxygen deprivation forced them apart and they both drew their breaths.

*Gasp!* "L-Louise! W-What was that for?" Asked a beet red Aile as she forced herself to crawl away from the tub and fell down to the tiled floor below before standing back up and facing said girl.

*Gasp!* *Gasp!* "I-I don't know." A crimson colored Louise explained in a soft voice as her mind slowly pieced itself together. "The contract perhaps?" She aired; her jumbled mind could only process a few things right now.

"The contract?" '_How could that be a contract? Contracts are supposed to be written! In data pads!_' Aile thought. "Aren't cont -" That's as far as she can say before she felt something inside.

A Beat …

She stopped and raised her hand and clutched her chest, something wants to enter her.

Another beat, this time there seemed to be seven hearts inside. Her functional eye suddenly felt heavy and it closed on its own; instead of fainting however she slowly rose from the ground until she faced Louise and seven points of light appeared from her chest, six of them are circling her, like a planet to a star, the last stayed in place on her chest like a central sun.

'_It looked just like the colors of a rainbow._' Louise thought in awe at what was happening.

The green one floated in front of Aile's chest, to where her heart is then slowly opened her eye and gazed deep to Louise's own, "I will be the Wind that caress your face." Aile said, as wind picked up for a while and surrounding the two girls, before the green sphere of energy returned to its position on the floating ring.

The blue one was next as it did what the first had done. "I will be the Water that cools your lips." Aile stated as Louise felt her lips moisten before a blush crept up to her face.

The orange one was next and felt Aile's radiating heat. "I will be the Flame that warms your body." It then returned to its position like the other two.

The lights slowly dimmed as she saw the violet one appeared on Aile's chest. "I will be the Shadow that follows your light."

The lights returned and expanded, nearly blinding Louise, "I will be the Shield to protect you from harm." Aile declared.

The red one appeared and everything returned to normal except Aile who stood in midair with a firm resolve, "I will be the Sword that repels your foes."

And finally, with a leveled voice Aile said, "And I will be your Companion for all Eternity."

With the enchantments done, lights appeared on Aile's limp right hand.

And when the lights dimmed, the runes appeared in its place, the runes of one of the four greatest familiars.

**The familiar that** **Orders the Wrath of God**

A/N:

Reynald found out about it on his own from Montmorency's and Guiche's talking.

Kirche saw Louise naked and pointing at her bed. Kirche was so surprised that she just closed the door.

Stupid maid, stupid girl and stupid dream – Louise after waking up from a dream about being kissed by an unknown girl - It was suppose to be this but my mind wanted to change it, blame it to the strange mindset of a human mind.

A/N2:

Uh Oh~! I'm losing my touch in writing, this is bad. And I kinda rushed the Last parts.

Darn! I accidentally made Kirche OOC! Darn! It was already too late when I realize that I had Kirche apologize to Louise.

Please take note: For me, Aile is fused with her biometals and they are inside her body. Blame the Halkeginian magic for it. Also I seriously don't know any military stuff so please give me some Idea how.

The scene with Reynald just popped up. At first I actually wanted him to just be there and help Guiche but Guiche turned him down and have him walk off but then again this s a good addition.

I seriously have no Idea why I had the contract done at the bathroom.

This isn't Yuri! So why is it heading that way? Darn it Gamer! Get your act together!

If you haven't noticed, Aile is a sword, a sword that the Guardians themselves used. Heck she could be already said as a One Woman Army!

WOW! This is twice as long as What I imagined!

You know guys, the two moons in ZnT are quite suspicious and MSN's Magical World located at an alternate Mars. The Implications of that are … well …

A physical pain can be healed quickly, but a mental scar will stay for eternity.

INSPIRED BY:

The Servant of Zero

Replies:

Anonymous who can't be bothered to even write a name:

I already know that Humans and Reploids have already become one.

There are two reasons for that:

A:As for Aile's ears please take note that when one is in critical condition people tend to focus on the damage more than on body parts that seemed to be artificial or out of place. Happens to me all the time and if he does notice it, he would more than likely ignore about it due to said injuries.

B: It is actually a plot device that I do not want to reveal yet. But your question just triggered people's curiosity.

Another reason for it is because it is highly unprofessional to gawk at something different when there's something that requires his immediate attention.

As for the present and past tense well think of it more as a writer's habit that is just hard to remove.

nununu: lol, nope, Siesta doesn't even have a biometal nor does she know about them. As for what you are thinking right now about my reply to you then I have to say this, don't think about it too much yet since it will be a bit of a spoiler when we get to the tarbes part.

Kohey: The first notes are actually for me, whenever I get tired I would write important details as notes to be converted to a story, I just have a habit in that and I don't like deleting the notes. As for why it is different, it is actually just like that. I read alot about other cross overs but most of those are said to be 'Inspired' by 'The Hill of Swords' but in reality it is more like a shadow of 'The Hill of Swords' and thus they have almost no originality and instead opted to use the way 'The Hill of Swords' move its story.

The title 'The Sword of Zero' is logical in your common sense because of Saito but if you look the terminology closely

Saito is the SHIELD not the Sword as the sword is Julio Chesaré

Also the title is also making you believe that it is Zero of the Megaman Series

But in reality it is something like this

Windalfr = Right Hand of God

Right Hand is mostly used to hold the Sword

Windalfr is a familiar of the Void

Louise is the wielder of the Void

Louise is known as Zero

So

It can also be said as

The Windalfr of Louise

AKA

The Sword of Zero

Yah, I hid the spoiler in plain sight and no one saw it!


	4. Chapter 04: The Court of War

**Chapter 04: The Frozen Flame**

**.**

_I have fought entire Armies all on my own!_ – Aile

**.**

The place was on fire …

Aile looked around; the flames are everywhere, bathing the streets in a bright yellow glow and spreading chaos all around in complete opposition of the serene night sky and the single glowing moon staring down at the burning city like the eye of a silent giant. She grit her teeth as she slew her enemies one by one determined to find out who had caused all this destruction.

A window shattered at her side and a being in the shape of a human appeared from it, peeking out with a silent watchfulness that only a galleon could emit before it pointed its twin burners at her and unleashed a silent fury of torrential flames. Aile gritted her teeth as the flames licked her armored left arm, searing the flesh underneath. She had been taken by surprise by that attack but she pressed on, unwilling to let the hindrance of pain slow her down even for a moment for she knew that lives are on the line, counting on her to save them from this burning hell. She brandished her weapon in hand before pointing at the sudden arrival of tiny, yellow like beings that explode upon contact.

She kept on firing.

One down … then two … five …until there are none left. Aile wished that she could sit down and rest for a while, but there are people that needed her, people that are trapped inside the buildings and quite possibly screaming in agony and desperation when all they found out was a wall and on the other side the roaring flames.

She had to move.

With nary a pause she acted, ignoring her pain and her predicament. Jabbing the energy saber to the door, she proceeded to make a hole on it. Sparks flew around from the point of contact from her sword to the metal. She pressed her immaterial blade on the side, near the frame of the door then pressed into it, stabbing her saber to its hilt as the point of contact turned red hot before it gave away. She did the same to the other side, making a parallel horizontal cut. Next a vertical one at the top, while at the same time ignoring her pain as red hot shrapnel fell on her. With a grunt she took it off before doing the last to the bottom of the door. Finished with her work, she dismissed her immaterial saber before kicking the door.

The metallic door clang to the floor of the office building before the acrid smell of smoke filled her nose forcing her to back away from it for a while and without any hesitation she rushed inside. The heat was intense so to speak but it won't slow her down from her mission, from her resolve. She squint her eyes and ran up to the second floor of the place only to encounter a green uniformed girl lying unconsciously on the ground. Shocked by the presence of a fallen comrade, Aile went down to her knees and tried to shake her awake but only got a groan of pain in response.

"Prairie!" Aile shouted to no one, "Prepare for transfer! I'm sending over a fellow Guardian now, she's badly hurt!"

"All right, I got your location. Look for more survivors and our fellow guardians. The Pseudoroid, is tertiary in priority so don't go looking for it until you finished the primary and secondary objectives." Answered a voice deep inside her mind; a voice whose words spoke of authority and respect.

"Understood, Aile out!" She replied as the girl on her arms disappeared in a flash of light.

She rushed ahead and destroyed an overly large burning flower before entering another room but the girl inside only screamed when she saw her. Aile was taken aback by this but refused to let this girl die out here, "It's all right I'm here to help."

"Shut up! Don't come near me! Mommy! Mommy, help me!" She screamed, as she clutched the small stuff toy on her arms and pressed it closer to herself. The toy offered no protection but it eased the girl's mind for it reminded her of her mother's love.

'_Aile, demerge from us_.' Ordered another voice inside.

'_But what would that do, Zero?_' She immediately replied.

'_Aile, I think what Zero is saying is that we are scaring her with our merged form due to looking a lot like a maverick._' A different voice answered Aile's question.

With a silent command and a burst of light, the armor disappeared and was replaced with her clothes. She gritted her teeth as the pain blockers that had been installed within her armor vanished and the pain that had been dulled now returned with full glory, battering her arm whose skin had been peeled slightly.

She looked down, luckily for her the girl had her eyes closed the whole time, denying reality as nothing more than a mere illusion.

"I-It's all right, everything's gonna be fine." Aile said as her voice quavered a bit from the pain.

The girl opened her eyes to her while tears freely run down her cheeks. "W-Where's my mommy?"

"Don't worry I-I think she's there. I'll send you to her." She said as she mentally gave the coordinates to Prairie and with a burst of light the girl was gone.

Resummoning her armor, she cannot help but feel the irony of it all. She sounded more like an angel of death to the young reploid girl; for a moment she envisioned herself as death, a girl whose painfully beautiful voice guides the souls of the dead to the place of rest; she gave a mirthless giggle all the while destroying another door, she came here to save people not kill them and give them hope not despair.

But she didn't have time to muse as she focused on her mission at hand. Now isn't the time to think, but the time to act.

"Aile, are you all right?" Prairie asked, worry was laced into her voice.

"Yes, don't worry, I'm gonna be fine." Was her answer before the two fell silent with the occasional transfer of coordinates till everyone was saved right before the burning building started to collapse to the ground. Aile was surprised at this but nonetheless she reached the rooftop and jumped before landing at the side of another building. She jumped to the other wall and entered thru the window and to her horror she saw her target, the pseudoroid that Prairie herself ordered her to ignore and what it had done.

Another guardian was there badly bleeding but she kept her weapon pointed at something and kept firing but it was no use as the maverick that Aile was ordered not to look for had just presented itself by jump at the guardian, ripping off the arm and unknowingly tossing it at Aile's feet just as it squeezed said guardian between its clawed fingers. Indifference was on its face as the guardian's tears fell but she didn't surrender to the pain and fought to free herself. An audible crack was heard and a scream left her lips right before something inside her blew her apart.

The maverick then turned to a silent Aile, intending to finish her too like what it did with her comrade or possibly a friend.

Aile just stood there, frozen on the spot as her gaze shifted from the girl's scattered remains to the girl's arm in front of her. She didn't saw this much carnage and brutal torture in her life before, or rather specifically, to one of her comrades as what she had done to Giro was nothing but to incapacitate him.

This however, was outright slaughter!

Her focus returned as she gripped her weapon tighter, it will pay! Oh~! It will pay! Anger now welled within her as she stared at this '_Maverick_' before her. Never once in her life was she this angry, this _**mad**_ at something with the sole exception of Serpent. She roared to the heavens as energy welled up within.

She charged, her enemy not knowing what force it has unleashed.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

"Mmmnnnhh…" Louise muttered as she slowly stirred, hugging herself more closely to the warm and soft pillow on her right hand side. She rubbed her head on the soft, warm mound but there's something hard pressing on her ear that is nagging her. Disturbed for a bit, she tried to flick it off but it only made it harder. Annoyed, she sleepily opened her eyes and gazed at the little thing that was disturbing her. Unable to focus her sight, she blinked the sleep off until she saw what it was.

Needless to say, it is something that could not be moved nor touched by anyone.

Her face immediately turned bright red as alarm bells ringed her ears at this very moment, screaming at her that what she had tried to do was absolutely very, very wrong. And Indecent. Inappropriate. Unbefitting of a noble! '_All right all ready! Shut up my mind!_' Louise screamed inside. She slowly tried to move away, lifting herself inch by inch to make sure that Aile won't wake up. "EEP!" She gasped, barely keeping herself from screaming when she felt a hand tighten on her behind. She looked down and saw Aile's left hand squeezing her there before she was brought down on the bed when Aile turned to her in her sleep, squashing her between the bed and Aile's chest with the little hard nub on her eye while at the same time Aile's legs were hugging her left leg. Louise gasped, when she felt the leg touch her there in the middle of her legs. Knowing that this had gone far enough and dignity aside, Louise wailed, "A-Aile~! P-Please let go!" She like Aile but this is quite too embarrassing. "Please!" '_Darn, she have very strong grip.'_

Aile slowly opened her eye and she felt something quiver under her. She raised herself just enough to see what or who it was and saw a mop of pink hair. '_Did Prairie dye her hair?_' She thought before drowsiness left her one functional eye and saw her, Louise, the one who summoned her here to this strange land. Last night had proved to be quite the experience when her cybernetics' power core which had been near empty when she woke up yesterday at the infirmary, was suddenly filled with energy and the Models that had been sleeping due to lack of energy were finally woken up. "Louise? Had something happened?" She asked in a soft voice.

"No, no-nothing happened, it is just that you are…" Louise blushed as she looked at Aile's innocent gaze, and Aile had made herself cuter when she tilted her head to the side. This only made Louise blush harder before averting her stare by looking down but had unfortunately gawked at the hanging mound right in front of her. She closed her eyes tight as she turned her head to the side. She gasped again as Aile unconsciously rubbed against her legs especially the one in the middle. "A-Aile! Stop that! Stop rubbing on me!"

"Rubbing on you? What do you … I." She then felt where her limbs were (which accidentally made her squeeze her hand unconsciously, making Louise gasp out) and she froze in place. "Oh…" Were her words before a noticeable blush also crept up her cheeks. '_No wonder I had such a comfortable and warm night._' "Sorry," was Aile's response to what happened before she started to remove herself from the entanglement of their bodies.

A voice deep inside her mind decided to make itself known at this very inappropriate moment. '_Aw, come on~! I'm quite sure you like it!_' It said before chuckling. Oddly enough, it sounded like Zero, only more feminine.

She hid her embarrassment and the conversation well that her face didn't move. '_Z-Zero?_' She asked risking it just in case it is Zero's voice.

An exasperated sigh answered her question, a sigh that seemed to be familiar and yet foreign at the same time. Aile's question was replied with an explanation, allowing Aile to answer her own voiced question with logic born from her own mind. Aile mentally gaped when she heard the reason for the sudden change in gender; then again the biometals doesn't even have a gender to begin with before. '_Do you remember that magic as it was called last night? Well it overloaded our circuitry for a bit and when we noticed it; me and the others have gender-flipped, Leviathan excluded since she was already one. I think it was because we are inside you._'

'_Noooo! My manly body! Nooooo!_' wailed a voice in deep despair. Curious enough, she didn't sound like anyone Aile had heard before.

'_That was Fefnir. Don't worry, he'll get over it._' Answered a familiar female chirpy voice, the only one who didn't get changed.

'_What? That high pitched girlish voice was actually Fefnir? Did I hear you right leviathan?_'

'_I am not girlish dammit!_'

"W-Why are you staring at me like that?" Asked another familiar voice, this time, it was quite close.

Aile blinked as she found out where she had been staring at and was greeted with the sight of Louise's face inches from hers. Deep inside a voice giggled at the misfortune of the other biometals, '_Welcome to a chosen path that only a few reploids dared, welcome to the path of the female._'

Deep inside, groans were heard.

Ignoring the Biometals inside her, she then opted to sit up on the bed and laugh nervously, "Sorry about that." Were her words while rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. About a month ago, she had grown used to having the biometals bicker inside of her that she can do things and concentrate on it all the while the biometals are talking about something irrelevant.

Louise then began to hastily crawl away. Sure, last night was a very comfortable experience but that doesn't mean that she'll let Aile touch her everywhere, but then again that doesn't mean that Aile was doing it on purpose

'_Yah, that was Fefnir, he's or rather she's the only very affected out of all of us._' The same familiar yet different voice answered. Now where did she last herd that voice from?

Another voice answered, this time a very, very irritated one, '_And why pray tell that you, X, aren't even affected here?' _It was a voice very full of frustrated temper. '_Don't tell me that you just accepted it?_'

That sweet, bell like voice of X answered with a statement of her own. '_Yah, Zero, I just accepted it. And since we are in some crazy world not our own I'd say to just deal with it and go, not to mention the fact that you really look like a girl with that ponytail of yours_.'

'_Hey! I'm very, very sensitive here and I resented what you had just said!_'

'_Not like it isn't true._' Quipped Leviathan.

'_Levi!_' Zero groaned.

'_Ok, ok, enough of that err … girl talk,_' like before Aile is forced to be the middle girl to prevent this ever growing discussion. '_We have to adjust to this world first before we make any conclusion and if we can find a way to return back._' She added in a serious voice.

"Aile, are you all right?" Asked a certain pink haired girl as she placed a hand on the brown girl's hair, "You seemed to be spacing out today. Are your injuries still bothering you?"

"Ah! No, not at all Louise." Aile replied with a smile and a shake of her head, "I just pondered something for a bit." The way that Louise gazed at her implied that the little pinkette isn't convinced but she respected Aile's silence of it.

"Well ... Let's go and freshen up." Louise declared before straightening up and headed toward the bathroom.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

Siesta's internal alarm gave off a silent click while at the same time informing her of her duties for the day; she opened her eyes, blinking them to adjust the brightness before stimulating her motor nerves and muscles, she rolled off her cover from her upper body before stretching herself. Siesta's form was thin and lithe, giving off an understandable impression that she's weak and fragile. But only a fool would believe something like that, only a fool that judged people by their cover would find out that such illusions are only skin deep. She, after all, was a living impression of the words, 'never judge a book by its cover' as beneath that thin frame are bones that can withstood boulders, muscles that can crush said rocks, and supple legs that can kill a man through a bleeding nose, and her ample bosom … Let's not start with them for a lot of people would die at the mere description of it.

She then prepared her maid uniform on the bed before gathering her things for the bath but before she could go, she noticed the flowers that Guiche had given her before remembered to change the water on it otherwise mosquitoes will start laying their eggs there; after all she had forgotten to do that for two days already. With that in mind, she set down her things and picked up the vase, she slowly removed the flowers two to three at a time until none were left. She went to the sink and slowly emptied it. A soft clanking of glass can be heard until a tiny intact vial appeared. Curious, she lifted it up while putting down the empty vase on the side. Looking at the tiny sparkling glass, she opened it and smelled the sweet-smelling fragrance of the perfume.

She smiled; perhaps this was the gift that Guiche had given her? Hiding it inside the roses until the time such as this? Nevertheless the reason, she will use it today. He may be a pompous brat but that didn't mean that she couldn't respect a gift that was given to her.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

Louise hummed a melody of her own making as she brushed the shiny brown hair in front of her while Aile just gazed directly at the vanity mirror watching herself and Louise before looking down at their clothes. "I didn't notice that the two of us are of the same size." Aile stated; it was true as the uniform fitted her small frame snugly, though the clothes are a bit tighter at the chest.

Louise made a sound and nodded her head in agreement; though her current fascinations are on the brown locks in front of her. This silky smooth texture, these straight yet strong strands, no split ends whatsoever, and importantly, no dandruffs to darken your mood on a fine sunny day. It was, for the lack of a better word, perfect, like God had came down and crafted the strands to perfection. "You're hair's so beautiful." She exclaimed breathlessly.

She blushed at that, she didn't know why her heart felt elated at that compliment but she accepted it nonetheless. "Thank you."

Louise placed down the brush, the two of them already done arranging their looks and headed outside for breakfast at the court. Louise opened the door and waited for Aile to come out. After all, one cannot just order an injured commoner to open the door for you especially one who had just recovered from numerous fatal wounds, familiar or no. Aile was a bit surprised at this; back at her home world all the doors would just open by itself since the automatic door would feel the pressure right at its pressure pad.

"Like walking to a fairy tale." Aile muttered as she looked around. Everything around her seemed to look like it was from the middle ages, from the architecture of the place especially when one looked quite close to the walls, the natural greenery of the plants and trees, to the clear blue sky without the pollution of any kind. Aile breathed, and felt the cool natural air tingle her nose. In the world that she came from, global warming was a serious threat as it raised the temperature of the world by about two Celsius, but this seemed redundant as she was no longer in her own world but rather on a different one. '_I wonder how many Light years it takes._' She thought.

They entered the student's dining room filled with rows and rows of tables with the chairs neatly spread apart. Aile knocked on the table with her functioning hand and got a pleasant solid sound from it.

Louise watched what she was doing; true that knocking on the table was and is of itself a bad manner at the table but then again Aile didn't know about their customs and traditions especially since she came from somewhere far away on an unseen land, so instead she decided to tell her about it. "Aile, you shouldn't do that, it is a bad conduct to knock on the table."

Aile immediately stopped but she still stared at the table before running her hand to it. "You know Louise, on the place where I came from it is rare to see such pure hard wood. Always, it is usually layered with metallic implants to make it sturdier and for the tree to survive from our harsh environment." She rubbed it some more, feeling the hard texture of the smooth waxed surface. "This place is truly different from my own, all natural with no artificial additives."

Louise cannot place it but on the way that she moved, it reminded her of a young woman regretting about something that had been done at the past. She shook her head as she removed that inappropriate thought from her mind and instead she called her over. "Aile, sit here would you?" She said, gesturing at the seat on her side.

Without a word, Aile went and sat on it, quite subdued for a while before perking up. '_Now that I think about it, I wonder what kind of provisions they are serving._'

'_I hope it isn't something disgusting._' Replied Zero. '_I don't want Aile to taste stuff like that since she's sharing her senses with us._'

'_Zero!_' Leviathan screeched, '_You don't have to be pessimistic about it. After all, Aile needed the nutrients since she's in a coma for two days due to severe physical trauma._'

A previously unspoken biometal took all of their words and decided to voice his thoughts or rather her idea, '_Want me to assassinate the cook?_'

Aile blinked, she knew it was a joke, it had to be for she wouldn't agree to it, other than that the voice didn't sound like anyone she had heard of before, '_Who's that?_'

'_Who else? Phantom_.' Answered another unknown though this one seemed to very familiar.

'_Oh! Harpuia! It seems that you are the only male who didn't change._'

Harpuia sighed heavily and replied, '_Actually, I did change gender, Aile._'

Utterly befuddled, Aile replied, '_But you sounded the same._'

'_Well, actually …_'

'_He's androgynous from the start, so what do you expect?_' Zero once again voiced himself up, annoying everyone inside their shared mind.

'_ZERO!_' Aile flinched at the intensity of the voice; she didn't know that Harpuia can scream like that. '_Don't you dare call me like that!_' One of the things that Harpuia hated the most are people insulting him, oh wait, her.

Aile groaned, '_Will you guys stop bickering in my head._' She thought. Seriously, this had gone far enough. Last time that they did this, she never got any sleep due to the nonstop bickering of the biometals which caused her to pass out on the bridge the very next day.

Light footsteps echoed, heading straight for her. Aile looked up to where it was coming from and saw a girl with a large forehead and curly hairs that seemed to bounce up and down whenever she walked. Her gaze shifted over at Aile, leering at the injured girl before voicing her thoughts. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the failure's familiar, pretending to be a noble at that. You should know that familiars such as you should eat at the floor like a dog."

Aile's eye hardened at the insult but instead of accepting the challenge or acknowledging the bigheaded fool; she instead, chose to sit there in silence and stare at her plate.

Montmorency's right eye twitched at the lack of response, she actually wanted the girl to rise against her words and start a verbal sparring since doing that she knew that the girl will lose, but with her all quiet like this, the whole thing will blow itself up as a stalemate. Speaking of stuff blowing up…

A sinister smile appeared on her lips when she finally chose a course of action. "You are one unlucky girl to become Louise's familiar you know. I wouldn't be surprised if she blew you up just for you to be this obedient."

Louise growled at that, the way that Montmorency spoke somehow tells her that she was telling Aile that Louise is an irresponsible master. "I did not blow her up!" Aile's eyes shifted to the girl with the shining forehead before settling her eyes at Louise with a questioning look.

"Sure you didn't." Answered Montmorency sarcastically, waving her hand at Louise like she was dismissing her." Internally, she smiled at the way things are unfolding, the two are slowly walking into her trap and decided to release the bait. She fixated her eyes on the girl sitting beside Louise and stated, "It is said that the Familiar reflected a Mage. Tell me plebeian, what can you do? Do you have any special talent that only you can do?"

Louise stiffened at that, true that she cannot cast a spell, not even once. Each and every time that she casted a spell, she would be scratched and scraped along with the others around her from the concussive blasts of the failed spell. Another awful truth was that Montmorency had every right to ask that question and that she could do nothing to stop it.

Victory, already at hand, she smiled triumphantly but remained impassive; she didn't want to rile the girl up too badly. After all, she found herself liking this girl, perhaps she and her could be friends? Then again, she had to ask herself, '_Can I be friends with a commoner? Wait, where did that come from?_'

Aile looked thoughtful for a moment as she regarded this question, placing her hand to her chin as she carefully evaluated her response to the question.

'_Did her eye just turned black for a second?_' The students all thought to themselves.

Nodding her head once and thanking the shinobi deep inside her soul. She looked up at the girl who asked her and replied in kind, "I can make explosions." Which made a lot of sense as anything and anyone that got between her and her target always exploded, showering parts and debris all around as she used her biometal's weapons against them mostly the ZX-Buster Shotgun and the ZX-Saber Blade. Another reason was that it was also the truth hidden inside the half-truth that would soon appear by speculations and disbelief formed from the minds of those who had heard of it.

However she didn't expect the students who had heard of it to laugh out loud in front of her as if she had just told a joke to them. She looked at her summoner and saw her restrained anger, barely stopping herself from outright lashing out at the blonde girl, whether verbally or physically, she didn't know how she dragged herself and Louise along for the ride on this trap but she had to remedy it nonetheless and turn the tables to their side. If subtlety wouldn't work then she had to be brazen about it instead. Her eyes gleamed red for a second as Fefnir took the lead, teaching her on how to provoke her enemy to her advantage, a smile appeared as Leviathan added her input on the matter, before an indifferent mask of steel appeared on her face as Harpuia told her on how to execute it. Barely nodding her head on impulse, she then waited for the girl to declare it.

"HAHAHAHA! You can make explosions?" She clutched her stomach as a vision of a smoldering girl came to mind. "You are just the same as your Master, Familiar!" '_As worthless as her? No, that's too insulting and Louise isn't actually worthless as she's very smart. Anyway I have to dispel this otherwise it will go out of hand._' But before she could speak, Aile decided that she had enough and intervened.

Aile laughed with abandon. It is like she was possessed since the laughter wasn't like the laugh of a child agreeing with them; it was more like the laughter of an evil being bent on giving her a rather painful end.

Montmorency was taken aback by this and so are the other students. She took a step away, wondering if the girl had lost her mind. "Wh-Wha…" She stuttered, completely flabbergasted at being laughed at like this, a sudden chill went up her spine as she looked at her. This wasn't the girl that sat here awhile ago despite having the same face and clothes as this girl looked like she can kill her with just about anything that she could get her hands on. She shuddered at the thought before pressing it down.

As the laughter died down from the sound of her mirth, Aile gazed impassively at Montmorency's eyes. Even with just one eye she still managed to make her shiver on the spot. "You're right, it is funny." She said, answering the unasked question of the girl in front of her. "Tell me girl, had you ever seen someone blew up? Had you ever seen someone scream in desperate pain as her insides started bubbling and the resulting flash steam from the inside tore her apart and scattered her innards at wherever it could land?" Inside of her, Fefnir grinned maniacally before bursting out in laughter at the insolence of the blonde girl, which was lessened somewhat as her voice was now too soft for it in contrast to her once gruff, manly voice.

Everyone in hearing range got sick at the description; some even had lost their appetite already. Montmorency stared at the girl in silence feeling both angered and sickened at the picture of brutality. Her pride on herself welled within, telling her to settle the dispute through violence that the girl cannot win so she opened her mouth and said the words that everyone cannot forget, as these were the words that started it all. "Young girl, I challenge you to a Duel!" Internally, Montmorency smiled, after she had defeated her she will then befriend her, no longer wondering where these thoughts came from.

Everyone gasped at the challenging words and Louise herself stood up to object the proposal, but the girl only sat there with that smile on her lips. "I refuse." She replied.

Taken aback for the second time, Montmorency absolutely never thought of this answer as such an answer would mean the girl's loss and for her to win uncontested. "W-Why?" She had been stuttering a lot lately despite the fact that it was she who started all of this. "Are you saying that you'll rather lose than win an argument? Don't you have pride in yourself?"

Aile laughed before giving her answer to the incredulous looks on everyone's faces with her elbow on the table and her head resting on her palm, "No, I do have pride in myself, it is just that you're not worthy enough for me to fight."

Silence reigned while a few of the nobles groaned in anger, how dare her to look down at them; for them to be not worthy enough to be a challenge for her and to trample at their pride like it was nothing more than a slight nuisance, and due to their honor, no matter how small it is, forced them to challenge her to a duel so that she can see the error of her ways; but it had been rebuffed completely as well. Montmorency gritted her teeth; she wanted to lash out but couldn't think of a retort to dispel the girl's words and thus she did the only thing that she could do; she turned on her heel and stormed off.

With that out of the way, a certain red biometal decided to voice his thoughts. '_Well, I hope that this alien world doesn't serve slimy tentacles._' This of course gave off several obvious reactions.

Aile paled at the thought.

Leviathan froze on the spot.

'_The images! The horrible images!_' That was X and Harpuia. X, because Zero showed him or rather her, a few of those back during the days; Harpuia due to a certain 'ahem' accident involving her seeing Tech Kraken practice off against Leviathan. A few misunderstandings later, Leviathan made Harpuia swore to never speak of it again.

'_Hey, what's a tentacle?_' Fefnir, oblivious to nearly everything that didn't have to do with blowing things up, asked the silent Phantom who for all intent looked like twitching. If she hadn't known better, it looked like Phantom wanted to commit suicide right here, right now.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

'_Well, at least they have decent food._' Mused X after their near horror of what awaited them awhile ago during breakfast.

'_Of course they have. Despite the fact that we are in a different world they are still human._' Zero replied after a bit of snickering for the joke that she caused. '_Though, I have to say that some people do eat live octopus._'

'_And why would they do that?_' Leviathan asked for she's a Reploid designed for water and had a natural taste for seafood.

'_I'm not too sure but they said that the suckers on the tentacles will make them stronger since it will fight to stay alive by trying to stick to the mouth or neck._'

'_Zero, please don't scare me next time._' Aile said, back then she felt like running away due to the mental image that Zero projected. She then looked around and noted that all of the students are outside like there's some sort of gathering. "Louise, do you know why most of the students are out here instead of inside the class?"

Louise nodded while giving a sound acknowledgement. "For three days, there are no classes for us second years since we used that time to get used to our familiars." She thought for a moment before adding. "Well … Um … that also means you, Aile."

Aile pointed at herself and asked, "Me?"

Louise nodded, a blush threatening to show on her face. "Yes, since … well, technically, you are my familiar."

Aile nodded her head in understanding at the logic of it but she cannot help but gaze at the sky and stare at the two faint moons hanging above. It had been four days since she came here, a day since she found out that she was no longer at her home planet. She blinked, it wasn't like her to think of such things but then again the stuff that had happened to her was mind blowing unreal. Another thought came to mind, a question this time, more than anything else in her mind. Why are there humans here? And for that matter why the humans here have a unique ability they called magic? Ok, so she has two questions that she wanted an answer for. She turned her eye away from the moons to watch Louise's back and a smile crept up to her lips. Whenever she gazed at Louise, a sudden feeling of content washed over her body like she was glad that the girl was all right. '_Why? Why am I feeling like this? It feels like she is an important person to me despite the fact that I had only seen her yesterday?_' She asked her mind, away from all the biometals. That made three questions that needed answers no matter how impossible it may be. Four now since another more unsettling question came to mind. '_Why am I not affected too much about being in another world? Shouldn't I freak out about it?_' Right about that time she stopped counting the questions as she knew that it would just pile up.

A sudden jet of flame disrupted her thoughts though she wasn't startled by it however Louise was surprised at the fiery burst that she fell on her behind and gave a startled yelp. Aile jerked, resisting the sudden urge to decapitate whatever it was that did such a thing as this. She stopped before she did such a thing, '_Where had that thought come from?_'

"Oh my! Louise, sorry about that." Exclaimed the red haired girl as she came into view. Aile remembered her back then when she was at their infirmary, she was the one talking to Louise when she woke up but she suddenly left when Louise had said something urgent to her.

"Kirche!" Louise gritted her teeth while she stood up and rubbed her behind. This germanian noble always had the uncanny knack of appearing out of nowhere and irritating her at the wrong time. "Will you point your …" She trailed off as she took a long look at the large lizard before her which tilted its head in an impassive look of curiosity, "salamander away from people." It was more of an order than a statement.

Aile looked at the two girls in front of her before looking down at the large lizard at her feet. It must have sensed her gaze as it stared directly at her eye before moving closer to her. Curious, she bent down and touched its head. Under the cover of her sling the runes shined dimly but no one noticed it as the light of the morning sun far surpassed the pale imitation of luminance.

The lizard groaned but Aile didn't hear the rumble of its throat but rather its hidden voice, "You are … different."

Aile blinked at the words then smiled. "Yes," she answered just enough for the lizard to hear. She should be freaking out right now but due to her constant experience of being near stranger things, everything felt so natural now.

The red lizard's throat rumbled again and a small flame flew out of its mouth before it dissipated just as easily, "How can you understand me?" It said, its tail wagging furiously in enthusiasm.

Aile shook her head, "I do not know," she replied truthfully, "I just heard you right now."

"Aile, what are you talking about?" Aile looked to where the voice came from and gazed directly into Louise's confused eyes.

Looking at the two confused girls who had stopped their conversation so that they can look at her; Aile just shook her head, "No, it is nothing." She said before patting the salamander twice on the head and standing up, prompting the lizard to scamper off to its red haired master.

Kirche sighed since the girl, Aile, had managed to halt the soon to be argument of her and Louise, but then again, that is a lot better than the conversation itself. "Come here flame," She beckoned. The salamander heeded its master's call and went to her side. "See you around then, Louise." And with that parting remark, they went away leaving the two girls standing there in the warm sunlight.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

"Guiche … What happened to you?" Montmorency asked, eyeing the tired looking Guiche who sat there with the head of his mole, Verdandi, on his lap.

Guiche yawned tiredly, making sure that he hid his mouth behind his hand as a gesture of etiquette, "I was up last night talking with my beautiful Verdandi." Was his reply but he knew that it was a half-truth, in reality he was up last night and for the last time scouring the grounds looking for the lost vial. He needed it today so that the merchant can replicate it. Not to mention that it would soil his honor of himself if he just gave up.

"Really? Are you sure you aren't up last night talking to a first year girl, Katie?" Montmorency accused, already used to Guiche's habit of enticing women behind her back. Entice was the word because Guiche would never cheat on her. Nope. Never. Not even once. Her hand slowly shook under the table and her smile suddenly became forced. '_It's all right, try to act natural._' She told herself but anger was slowly seeping in and her control was being pushed out.

Most of the time which in other words were always, Guiche would cringe and nervously laugh to hide what he did but this time, Montmorency was surprised when he just laughed tiredly before looking up at the white clouds passing overhead like giant, flying sheep. Sure he did talk to the girl last night but it was very brief before he gave a rose and walked away. He was so worried last night to even thought of charming Katie like he usually do. "No, my beloved Monmon," He said, sounding a bit too serious for Guiche to be himself, like it was a different young man before her. He then returned his gaze to Montmorency, leaned forward and clasped the hand that was holding her familiar, an orange frog named Robin, lightly before saying straight to her eyes. "I am not up last night spending time with Katie, but rather I was up with Verdandi, showing her the grounds at night and uncovering items hidden under the soil." That was the truth since he found a lot of jeweled accessories that are just waiting to be found, accessories that had been lost for countless centuries by the students because Verdandi could not locate the vial that he asked of her.

Hearing her name, Verdandi gave out a squeak while watching her master's movements.

Montmorency blushed brilliantly at how close Guiche was and his words of truth but she immediately suppressed it when she noticed one major flaw. "But didn't you just say that you were talking to Verdandi?"

Guiche nodded before unclasping Montmorency's hand and leaning back to his chair. "Yes, I did, Montmorency, we discussed while walking across the ground." He blinked his eyes to stave off sleep and noticed her lips sparkling beautifully from the red lipstick. He swallowed right then and there as a thought appeared on his mind, the thought of how soft Montmorency's lips would be.

Montmorency remained unconvinced but she listened to his reason none the less. She then started some idle talk to stray off the hostile topic and Guiche responded in kind that was until she got a whiff of something very familiar. She turned to Guiche and noticed that he too recognized the scent but she failed to note his pale expression.

One of the maids with jet black hair walked up to them carrying a platter with two pieces of a pie in it. Without a sound, she then placed a piece of the pie on each of two platters on the table before bowing and slowly walking away to do another task.

"You maid, stop right there." Montmorency ordered, standing up and walked over to the maid in question. There was no doubt about it; this girl reeked of her perfume, the one that Guiche himself gave to her as a present but how could the maid have had it? Wasn't it lost somewhere in her room? Or maybe someone had stolen it …

Montmorency's eyes widen in shock before it hardened into slits at the sudden revelation her mind had wandered into. Yesterday, she asked herself who could have stolen it, how did the thief stole it, and why? But now that she had found out about the answer it was taking all of her concentration to stop herself from unleashing her fury to this girl. Her mind formed a picture, a moving picture of this maid entering her room and after cleaning the place decided to steal something from Montmorency's vanity cabinet, thinking that whatever she took wouldn't be missed. But unfortunately for her, she decided to take the very thing that Montmorency treasured the most as the perfume itself was her identity that Guiche had given her, for him to remember her by her fragrance and this maid, this girl just decided to use it for her own in turn defiling her scent.

"How dare you!" Montmorency screamed as she slapped the maid who fell on the grassy soil. The maid rubbed her cheek to where the hand had made contact with her skin, surprised at the sudden hostility upon her. Montmorency hid her grimace when her hand touched the maid's skin, it felt like the maid's soft face was layered with something as hard as a rock; nevertheless, she continued on, "How dare you stole my perfume!"

"Um … Montmorency," Guiche started as his panic began to set in. '_This is bad! This is really bad!_' He thought, while wondering how could this maid, and as he looked closer he noticed that it was Siesta of all people to have found it. Now, how was he supposed to stop this before it got worse?

"Not now Guiche!" Montmorency clearly roared like a dragon that was about to pounce on its prey. "Answer me!"

Siesta shivered at the intensity of this girl's voice. Sure, the slap didn't hurt but what mattered was what this noble was accusing her of; she never stole anything from her nor did she steal this perfume as it was actually given to her by Guiche. She took a deep breath to calm herself before she voiced the truth in her soft accent, "I - I didn't stole any perfume." Slowly she tried to stand back up. "It was given to me as a gift by Sir Guiche."

It just got worse! Not knowing what else to say, he instinctively denied it. "N - No … I – I mean…" But before he could stop his stuttering and explain himself on what really happened his girlfriend reverted back to her verbal accusation and lashed out at the defenseless maid. '_Guiche, you fool!_' He mentally punched himself.

Siesta's eyes widened in shock at what he said and a dawn of comprehension showed itself to her heart; she was played, played like a harp by this noble until one of her strings was broken off and thrown away like so much garbage. Her eyes darkened while her mind processed a new revelation, '_The nobles will never change._' She no longer cared anymore as she stood there in silent testimony of how wicked the nobles had become.

"First you stole something from me, then you also tried to pin the blame to my boyfriend?" Montmorency said summarizing the events that had happened prior to her words but Siesta remained silent. "I can't believe that you would stoop as low as that and really, why Guiche would stole from me the perfume that he gave?" She asked indignantly and everyone within earshot saw the logic in that but unfortunately for everyone, that kind of logic didn't even apply.

"What's happening here?" Asked an unfamiliar voice; a voice that no one had ever heard before except for the people near her during breakfast. The three arguing children turned their heads and saw a girl with light brown hair and a green eye as the other is covered by a bandage ran toward them and even with a broken, delicate arm doesn't seem to hinder her or maybe she was already used to such pains. Their hearts skipped a beat when they saw her but they couldn't point out why.

"It is none of your business commoner." Montmorency said all the while suppressing the sudden urge to soften her voice and order the girl to rest.

"True, but Louise and I can hear you way out there," she replied while pointing her thumb at a direction behind her and sure enough, Louise sat there at a table that was quite a distance away looking as confused as ever.

Siesta opened her mouth to speak but her voice was strangely in monotone. "Miss Montmorency was accusing me of stealing from her."

"But you did steal it and you were using it right now!" Montmorency shot back indignantly.

"Siesta?" The girl asked patiently, like a judge in the middle of a hearing.

"But I didn't, it was given to me by Guiche back then when he gave me the roses." Siesta looked up, hoping that this girl will help her but Montmorency seemed to have a different approach to her reply.

"No … I." Was Guiche's only words again trying and failing to get their attention.

Anger flared in Montmorency's eyes as she slapped the girl again and pushed her to the ground. This time she winced at the pain on her hand and without conscious thought to what she was doing, she kicked the girl's leg as it was the closest to her.

Siesta yelped as she felt the noble girl's abuse to her but she did not complain as protesting will only give her more suffering.

Aile was surprised at this show of force and prejudice to the lower member of the society. Never in her life, not even once, were people treated like this as back in her home world everyone was treated equally, no matter what you are or what you do for the society. A sense of justice welled up within; the same justice that she used to bring down the Core of Model W. With that in mind, she did the only thing she could to stop this mess from getting worse. She shoved herself to the middle of Montmorency and the fallen maid before slapping the arrogant blonde girl. She winced, she forgot her own strength at that moment which meant that her slap was a couple deal harder than normal and it literally made the blonde fell down in a wobbly heap, and once the girl was lucid enough, she then presented her ultimatum: the challenge that the arrogant, blonde girl had demanded of her earlier at breakfast. "You wanted a duel? Fine then." She stated, the authority clearly heard from her voice. "You will decide what time and what place?"

Gritting her teeth, Montmorency replied, "Vestri Court in a half an hour from now."

Aile nodded her head once before bowing in the gesture of honorable challenge before turning around and helping the maid get back to her feet.

"Guiche will also duel with you as his pride was also soiled by that maid's lies."

"W - Wait … Listen." Once again, Guiche tried but with no such luck.

"Guiche! Shut up! And just accept it!" Montmorency roared again but this time her words left no room for an argument.

"Y – Yes ma'am!" Guiche squeaked, wondering again how could this turn for the worst when it already happened?

"Fine then." Aile replied without a hint of hesitation on her voice. She didn't know anything about magic except for the concussive explosion that Louise had casted back at the infirmary yesterday. No matter, she had firmly committed to the cause and she will see it to the end whether in defeat or victory.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

"You did WHAT!" Louise screamed at what Aile had explained to her. Surely, she didn't expect for this girl to do such a thing, let alone agree to the duel that she originally refused. "Why did you do such a thing? Guiche and Montmorency are both mages, you don't – you don't stand a chance against them." She added and one could see the desperate plea in her voice; the plea for Aile to understood her words and denied this duel, especially when it was two mages against one commoner, particularly an injured one for in her eyes it will be a massacre.

It would be a massacre, just not one she was thinking right now.

"Louise," Aile voiced her words, quite warmed by Louise's worry over her well being but her will to induce justice was stronger. "It will be all right, you hadn't seen what I can do yet." She replied, her resolve firm.

'_I hadn't seen it yet but I had dreamt about it._' Were Louise's own thoughts but feared to voice it into words. In each of her dreams, Aile had performed brilliantly against her foes that out classed, and outmatched her in terms of strength, speed, stamina, and hmm … magic? But in the end, Aile was the one who stood up due to her ferocity, tenacity, and firm resolve to her duty to save something, or was it someone? And once, just once in her life maybe she'll see a commoner take down a mage. Wait, wasn't that a bad thing since she's a noble herself? She shook such thoughts away and focused her attention to what they're discussing right now. "I know, but you also hadn't seen how mages cast their magic."

"But I did saw you cast your magic." Aile pointed out. "True that it created property damage but it didn't even harmed anyone short of knocking them unconscious."

Louise blushed at that since she didn't know if it was an insult or praise. Poor Louise, she had been hurt too much to recognize a praise when she heard it. "Wha – What is that suppose to mean? That doesn't count!" She replied while waving her arms but unfortunately for her, this gave off a response that was the direct opposite of what she was aiming for.

Aile giggled at Louise's antics and said, "Aww … You're so cute." Upon hearing that Louise froze on the spot but before she could reply, Aile's expression softened, she moved closer and hugged her with her left arm. "Don't worry Louise, I will be all right." She whispered.

Louise shivered when Aile's breath had trickled her ear; she nearly moaned right there and melted into a puddle but her pride won't let any of that thank goodness.

A silent alarm went inside her head, indicating that she only had about less than five minutes left before the start of her duel with Montmorency and Guiche at Vestri Court. Where ever it is …

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

"You're late!" For some odd reason, both Montmorency and Aile had said at the same time while being at the two opposite sides of the circle of spectators. Blinking, both the two girls looked at each other before gazing away.

"Guiche, you're going first." Montmorency ordered, earning her an odd gaze from her boyfriend.

"What? Now you two listen here because I …"

"How about if you two team up?" Said Aile, once again stopping Guiche from explaining himself, "After all, it won't matter in the end."

Montmorency thought of this for a while and the commoner was right, it won't matter in the end anyway. "So be it."

"You know what? Fine then!" Guiche roared, shocking the two girls from their musing as he had had enough. "Whoever wins after this duel you guys will let me speak is that clear?"

Aile and Montmorency blinked at this show of manly confidence before the two of them nodded their heads.

"Good, let's start!" And with that decoration, he waved his rose looking wand and let seven petals fall to the ground. And where those petals fell, seven bronze armors appeared in their place as they clawed themselves out of the ground and stood impassively, staring at Aile in silence as they waited for their master to order them to attack whatever enemy that he deemed. "I am **Guiche de Gramont**, my runic name is Guiche the Bronze, and despite my better judgment to call off this duel," He sighed, clearly reluctant to fight, "I had no other choice and thus my Bronze Valkyries shall be your opponent." He declared as all playfulness disappeared from his face and instead was replaced by an intense, cold concentration as he gazed at his opponent. He was aiming for intimidation, to intimidate his opponent to keep them from attacking and to instill fear till they surrendered to prevent bloodshed; but he never expected for the girl to smile competitively, like she was happy for him to be standing up against her like this.

"I am Aile, Guardian First Class Unlimited License." Aile introduced herself and went on to a defensive stance. At the corner of her eye she can see the curly, blonde girl silently whispering something while her left palm was pointing at the fountain of water. She took all of her surroundings, watching every angle, every movement, and every student in this large plain using Phantom's silent Radar Scope, easily noting everything that was going on around her with precision. "And I'll show you how I deal with oppression."

The boy nodded once either accepting Aile's words or just wanting this duel to be finished as quickly as possible, no one knew, prior to moving his rose wand and sending two of his bronze constructs to restrain Aile to finish this senseless duel.

Aile blinked once as Harpuia's Search Eye took over and her vision was layered with a green grid. The left hand golem moved and tried to grab her left arm; she dodged to the right before angling her body to evade the right golem's outstretched arm and she retreat a step backwards before bowing down as a sneaky third golem appeared at her back and tried to hug her. She jumped to her left side, barely missing the golem that tried to get her arm and pin her there. That tactic could have worked if she hadn't been using Phantom's passive radar; she smiled as Harpuia had finished her scans of the Valkyries and with an unconscious effort, Fefnir merged her personality with her, agreeing that it is now time for their counter-attack.

Most of the students by then had moved away to give the three dueling children some moving space and of course to ensure that they won't get hurt accidentally.

Aile moved her head a bit to the side; just enough for the arm to graze her face but not enough to hurt her before grabbing said arm and kicking the golem hard at the lower abdomen. Her enhanced strength giving her enough of a boost to snap the entire arm off the golem which in turn she used to chop the knee off of another golem like a very blunt axe both shattering the bronze arm she was using and the leg of the second golem and finally she gazed at the last one before throwing the remains of the bronze arm at the head of the last remaining golem, she managed to make it stagger before kicking the golem between the pelvic and its right leg, shattering it and making it fall to the ground. All three soon crumbled and turned to dust as the magic inside them gave way.

'_What the Hell is this?_' Asked Fefnir inside Aile's mind, incredulous that her lifeless enemies had been destroyed so quickly; '_They barely lasted more than four seconds._'

Aile blinked at the remains of the three golems before setting her gaze at the slacked jawed Guiche and silent Montmorency. "Well … That was easy." She quipped in astonishment. That was quite true as she expected the golems to be as tough as Galleons; mechaniloids that were created for the sole purpose of accomplishing tasks and orders at any cost. She shivered at the thought, those things had been far too tough and annoyingly everywhere, and as strange as it may sound, those things being everywhere had actually saved her life as those Galleons had been stretched too thin to be anything more than a pest. If there had been at least seventy of them in any given area she would no doubt be screwed over. She sighed, well, no point in reminiscing the past now as those belong to another planet entirely. Giving Guiche her undivided attention, she asked, "Is that it?"

Hearing Aile's words of … Encouragement? Or was it Insult? Guiche closed her gaping mouth before laughing at her challenging words and said, "I see, forgive me for being too easy on you."

Aile nodded with a smile and once again merged her mind with Fefnir, the biometal of the flame, and whose aggressive personality matched her urge to deal with what is necessary in this duel.

Guiche flicked his rose wand again and again scattering the petals all around revealing more of the bronze golems. Phantom scanned the number of enemies and deducted that there are now twenty five of them surrounding Guiche, some of them carrying spears and swords. He signaled the first five to advance, reserving his forces in waves to tire out his enemy. Flicking his wand again, the remaining bronze golems formed themselves in a loose rectangle with five by four rows facing Aile.

Phantom told Aile to keep her ground as the enemy slowly advanced; telling her the opportunity to strike will come as soon as the enemy made an opening. This first wave of golems didn't have any weapons on them and more than likely a test run to see how she would react. The two on the farthest side broke from the group intending to flank her guard while the middle one attacked first with a straight solid punch. Aile ducked low before aiming at the golem's weak point at the armpit. A while ago Harpuia told her of their enemies' many weaknesses on their bodies which were the armpits, shoulder joints, neck, pelvic joints, and the back of the knees to where the metal was too thin to allow movement of the automatons.

Aile grabbed the hand as it somersaulted on the way down before bashing the neck of the second golem with it then jumping on said golem as it stagger to avoid the third which tried to hit her with a rising chop to the neck, sadly, this caused her to let go of her clubbing weapon which was the first golem's arm. She stood there balancing herself as she assessed the strength of that blow and concluded that that could have sent her flying in a dizzying heap if it connected. Next, she kicked the third golem's head off before using her weight to topple the second golem. Phantom's alarm made her move her head to the side as an arm suddenly appeared to where her head had been and made a grab for it with her only functioning arm before vaulting it over her and crashing it to the ground, and with a deft kick from her foot, she dismembered its right arm before throwing it at the last golem which shattered upon impact with the things arms as it held those to protect its body; but it is enough for a distraction as Aile swept her leg to destroy its knees. She smiled in satisfaction as they too crumbled to the ground.

Guiche once again ordered five of his golems to attack, this time they had swords to use against her. Without a word Aile too advanced as she decided that she had enough in showing herself off, she relaxed her arm, intending to smash and grab like she did before until a large torrent of water pushed her off her feet.

"Had you really forgotten about me?" Montmorency sneered at the fallen commoner before her, sure that the commoner have the guts and moves to fight but that doesn't mean that she couldn't blindside her; that and the fact that commoners should be placed to where they belong. "I am **Montmorency Margarita la ****Fère de Montmorency** and my runic name is Montmorency the Fragrance!" She roared in her prideful arrogance while she sent another burst of water to the girl.

Aile groaned as she shook her hair to remove the excess water; as a matter of fact she didn't forgot about that blonde girl, but rather the fact that water couldn't be seen through Phantom's radar and was blindsided by it. She stood up again and got herself ready as this match was still far from over but this time she's taking the initiative, she ran, far faster than they could blink and broke the leg of the first golem while at the same time stealing its sword by chopping the arm off the elbow joint using the side of her hand, next she grabbed the sword while still in midair, removed the golem's hand, sliced the other arm off and kicked it toward two other golems. She jumped to the right as another jet of pressurized water went past her. good thing that she decided to occasionally glance at the blonde girl; her magic wasn't that much of a threat but it is good enough to keep her distracted and on guard which in effect would tireher more. And that strategy would have worked, if she was purely human. She looked at the sword on her hand and frowned, this ancient weapon was a great deal heavier than her usual ZX – Saber or HX – Twin Swords but not heavy enough to hinder her as she swung with it, easily taking out the two still standing before moving her arm in an arc to decapitate the remaining two as they tried to free themselves from the ground.

Now armed with a weapon, Aile stood there looking far more dangerous than before even with a nearly healed body and using only one hand and one eye. "It will take more than mindless automatons and getting me wet just to stop me." She declared.

"Your confidence will be your undoing commoner." Montmorency spat though she didn't lose her cool. She smiled again, "Besides, do you really think that I was only trying to get you wet?" She added as she made more gestures with her wand.

Aile narrowed her eye, she already knew that this girl was planning something; but she didn't know what it was. Yet. Unbeknownst to her, water slowly rose from the ground and due to her soaked body she didn't notice until it was at her knees, alarmed at the sudden creeping feeling going up her legs, she looked down but it was already too late. Water came forth from the ground, entrapping her in a sphere of translucent water. She tried to swim but the current seemed to be everywhere, pushing her down when she tried to float up and staying her in place when she tried to swim to the sides. She blinked inside as she thought of a way to free herself; luckily since some parts of her body didn't need air she could keep the concentration of oxygen to her brain, keeping her conscious for at least eight minutes.

Montmorency smiled at her work; her family was known to be a lower class noble since she had her family could not cast a spell stronger than a line class magic but still that didn't mean that they couldn't make good use of it. It all started back then when her human predecessor and the water spirit had fallen in love and gave birth to a child, her ancestor. It was said that this child couldn't cast above a line class magic but was also known to 'feel' the water as if it were a living being, enabling her to make potions, potions that are extremely effective in what she wished of it, and thus she was the first of the long line of potion makers. But it came with a great cost however as the Montmorencies can only give birth once in their lifetime and thus the line ended with her and if she died before siring a child then that long, thin, family line will be gone forever. This was one of the reasons for her to be uptight with her relationship with her boyfriend Guiche as she cannot bear to have a broken heart.

Montmorency stared at her captive foe; she can literally feel the girl's movements in the water as she tried in vain to free herself from her watery prison. This was one of the few water manipulations that other water mages couldn't emulate as the water itself was something akin to a free spirited being, a being that couldn't be held nor contain but could be restricted and confined to the solidity of ice temporarily. She pressed her wand to the side of her neck and chanted silently. This was another of the spells that was strictly used by her family, this spell allowed her to transmit her words as ripples of waves in the water, allowing her to communicate with whoever she had entrapped within.

Aile was surprised when she heard a disembodied voice speaking all around her. "Stay there and die commoner! You will set an example to the plebeians like you that nobles shouldn't be trampled with." Aile gritted her teeth; the young man was quite the sports person albeit reluctantly but this girl was downright murderous. She had to think fast lest she drown in this sphere of liquid.

"MONTMORENCY!" Guiche screamed; it was known throughout history that duels to the death are banned due to obvious reasons; then again since this was two against one it was no longer considered a duel but the application of non-fatality still remains. "This duel is only to set the dispute of the perfume! Killing her is way too much!" He said in clear panic, all of this was his entire fault and if he had said the truth earlier this wouldn't have happened, and now if this girl died, his conscience will not let him rest as it will nag him forever till the day he died.

Cancelling the voice spell, Montmorency whispered to him. "Don't worry I won't kill her, I'm not that heartless. I'm only trying to scare her so she won't get in between things that she couldn't handle." Were her words to him, she may show a front of a snobbish noble but that didn't mean she'll harm anyone who stood up against her. She suddenly frowned as she felt the girl smile inside the sphere and she casted her voice spell again, "Do you think that I am jesting you commoner? I won't hesitate to drown you."

'_Ooohhh~! So you wanna play~?_' Said a voice, a mischievous voice that sent shivers down Montmorency's spine; the voice then added a shrill thrill of delight before saying, '_Then let's PLAY~!_' and with that final exclamation a blinding light engulfed the sphere form the inside, forcing the spectators and the participants to close their eyes lest they suffer going blind. And when they opened their eyes they saw the girl wearing something that can only be described in history books.

Montmorency gasped when she felt it, the feeling of water as it rejoiced and sang to her senses dulling her to its chorused euphoria; she fell to her knees panting all the while as the feeling of being turned back into the element that she commanded slowly diminished and her senses returned. She gazed lazily at the girl in the middle of the sphere as she floated there like a fish on water. She felt her magic encircling the girl, (no, her name was Aile isn't it?) before her as if her magic itself was empowering the girl, protecting Aile from harm instead of the other way around. She tried to stand up but her rubbery legs wouldn't allow her, blinking, she hazily gazed at her wet skirt, '_Odd, must be because, I lost concentration of the water that I casted._' She thought but then why was the sphere still there instead of loosing integrity? And for that matter, why was her blouse still dry?

Aile closed her eye as the feeling of power rushed from inside her soul and encompass her, surrounding her, and finally enveloping her in a tight fitting hug as the armor of the great general of the seas materialized, protecting her from drowning with its own artificial water filtration system allowing her to breathe underwater. Leviathan, the true name of Model L, emerged from the sea of her soul, giving Aile the assistance that she needed in this battle, an assistance that will turn the tide of war in her favor as it did before during her numerous fights at the seas of Legion. She opened her eye, that bright blue spot on her face that had seen countless battles and only lost to the one legendary hero, the hero that never failed even once in the missions that he participated in no matter the opposition. The turbines at the fins of her helmet silently erupted to life, giving her the necessary thrust to escape the currents. And like a mermaid leaping from the sea she soared with graceful passion, somersaulted once in the air and landed elegantly at her feet. Everyone was stunned at the sudden display of beauty that no one noticed the brightly gleaming runes on the girl's limp right hand that hung lifelessly to her side as it fused the soul of the ancient heroine and the girl that held her soul. Her left hand moved in an sweep, faster this time, and from nowhere a large double pointed halberd appeared on her hand with glowing immaterial azure tips at each end centered around the bright crimson jewels that are functioning as stabilizers for the energy that it produced. Leviathan's Glaive as it was known, said to be the antithesis to Fefnir's heat rounds as instead of heating steel to make it easier to slice apart, Leviathan opted to cool the metal to absolute zero, making said metal too brittle to stand against and offer resistance to anything, making the metal easier to break even with just a simple hand held weapon.

Guiche was the first to recover his wits and exclaimed, "Th-The Armor of God!" And with rising panic he forced the remaining fifteen golems to attack headlong against her without any coordination in their movements. '_To have her Willpower turn the elements into indestructible armor, that is something that the founder himself knew in theory but was impossible to do due to the sheer amount of willpower needed as it is beyond pentagonal magic. And this girl had managed to do it without casting._' He thought his face paling at the implications.

She charged forward and crushed the first middle golem with an over hand swing from her weapon and without a second thought she released her energy at the tip and a crystallized dragon appeared and destroyed two more middle golems at the back before it enlarged, taking on a body, limbs, and finally wings appeared at its back before thrashing the remaining twelve golems around, six on each of the dragon's sides. Meanwhile Aile dashed to the still dazed Montmorency who only gaped at the armored girl. Seeing the danger that was currently heading toward his girlfriend, he tried to save the last two remaining golems to hinder Aile but was smashed to smithereens instead by the swipe of the icy dragon's claws. Seeing that its task was complete, the dragon slowly shattered into countless fragments before melting away to nothingness.

Montmorency blinked as she saw the tip of the spear at her neck before staring at the one open eye of Aile in front of her, the other however was closed shut, no doubt still badly injured along with her right hand that hung uselessly with cracks at the metallic armor. She gulped when she felt the spear, there was no heat radiating from it, as a matter of fact it was cold, too cold to her liking as if it was sucking in her heat.

Aile watched this woman right in front of her and with a leveled icy voice she said, "I have stood up against merciless killers." An image appeared on her mind, an image on how her family died before removing it and replacing it with her sworn duty against the horde of mavericks as her voice increased in intensity like a crescendo reaching its the climax of the song, "I have fought entire Armies all on my own!" And finally an image of Serpent appeared on her mind before shouting at the top of her lungs, pointing her intent home. "I HAVE EVEN SLAIN A MAN WHO THINKS OF HIMSELF AS A GOD!" She took a few needed breaths while everyone around her shuddered at her voice until she calmed down enough to voice her thoughts on what had happened here. "If you are going to insult me with that pathetic belief then be prepared to face the tip of my spear!"

Montmorency knew that she was way out of her league in this and if she tried to continue with it she could die. Faced with no other choice she admitted her defeat, "I – I yield."

Aile nodded at this, accepting her words and lowering her Halberd before looking at Guiche who simply sighed and said, "I yield too," before adding, "Now, will you mind if I explain myself?"

With those thoughts out of her mind she dismissed Leviathan in another blinding flash of light and reverted her armor back to the soaked uniform that Louise had given her. "Later. I'll see you three," she started, pointing at the maid beside Louise, then to Montmorency, and finally at Guiche, "Back here in an hour, I'm gonna change my clothes first."

Siesta stood ramrod straight with her hands over her gaping mouth, hiding it from sight for she was unable to believe what she had seen. The girl who stood by her side, the one who protected her from the nobles, had, for some strange coincidence, the same style of protective gear that she had seen once in her life but the imprint of it stayed in her eyes forever.

"Siesta?" A voice asked, sounding out of breath from what she had seen or was it something else that she had seen?

Siesta involuntarily twitched when someone called her name before regaining her composure and looked to her side, glancing at the tiny Louise. "Yes, Miss Vallière?" She asked, her mind still hanging on the little demonstration of power that the summoned girl had unleashed.

"Call me Louise." The pinkette replied unable to remove her gaze from her familiar. "And come with me." Without another word she dragged the maid with her.

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

Aile sighed as she entered Louise's room and began removing her clothes, '_Why do I have to get wet?_' She asked herself; '_And dripping at that._'

'_Who cares? We at least taught her a lesson._' Exclaimed Leviathan who jumped in joy inside her mind for being able to shake the girl's belief and place doubts in her mind no matter how small it is.

'_A lesson on what?_' X asked; a frown could be heard in her voice. '_The way I see it, you two just jumped to the conclusion._' She explained which was in a way true.

'_That's why I told them to be there in the next hour._' Aile replied as she removed her skimpy undershirt, by then she was already at the bathroom, free from anyone who might accidentally enter and saw her in her state of partial undress. She squeezed the undershirt, wringing the excess liquid off before placing it at the laundry basket, which was kind of hard to do with one hand; an achievement unto itself.

'_So this misunderstanding isn't done yet._' Zero concluded.

She removed her remaining clothes, wrung them, and placed them at the basket before taking a bath again. After all, she got dirtied from her scuffle in the battle earlier.

'_On another note, how did you do that?_' X asked out of the blue.

'_Hm? Do what?_' Aile responded.

'_Back there when you megamerged with Leviathan,_' Zero responded and for the first time quite serious at the matter at hand.

She stood silent for a bit as she contemplated her question before she noticed why such a question was asked. '_I … really didn't know, it just felt like the same as I did before when I megamerged with you._' She replied, a bit shaken by this simple fact, '_When I R.O.C.K. On'_.

'_How about if we sneak out tonight and megamerge somewhere around here?_' Fefnir suggested, her tone indicating the excitement that she was having at the mere thought of it, the thought of having her own Chosen One, Granted it was also Mistress X's but still…

'_That would be an adequate solution if not for the fact that they might have sensors that we do not detect nor know._' Phantom replied, throwing down the solution as pragmatic as always.

Harpuia added her thought, '_Was it because of this new variable called magic?_'

With an unladylike grumble Zero added, '_Yes, darn gender swapping magic._'

The others couldn't agree more.

'_Anyway, let's ask Louise tomorrow for a secure ground away from prying eyes._' Aile said, as she poured her water over herself.

'_Aaahhhh~! The water in this world is so nice and pure._' Leviathan exclaimed, weighing the pros and cons of their world's treated water to this world's untouched supply; which suffice to say was like comparing copper to gold.

Aile began humming to herself who was soon copied by Leviathan and, curiously enough, Fefnir started singing too.

And that's when the bathroom door burst open.

"KYAAAH!" Aile, Leviathan, and Fefnir screamed. Aile turned around, her back facing the door as she tried desperately to cover her modesty.

'_Bwahahahaha!_' Zero laughed unashamedly if he or rather she still had a body she would be rolling over herself on the ground. '_Oh, oh hahaha! My hahaha! Oh My God! Bwahahahaha! Fefnir! You really screamed like a girl._'

'_I DID NOT!_' Fefnir roared, metaphorical hands itching for the trigger. Oh, how she wished she still had her beloved Sodom and Gomorrah not to mention her body so that she can put some very large holes to this floating hunk of metal that was once Zero inside Aile mind. She stopped right there, if she did that, she would hurt Aile indirectly, not to mention the great Master X who chose Aile, or was it Mistress X right now? She wanted to twitch as all of this thinking was hurting her head.

"Aile! Aile, how did you do that?" Louise asked giddily while invading Aile's private space.

'_Honestly, this girl is nearly as bad as Prairie._' Harpuia chimed in, silently thinking how much fate loved to screw Aile over.

"Do what?" Aile asked as she gazed back and saw a maid right outside the door. She blushed and turned back around. "H – Hey! Close the door!"

"Oh, right!" Louise then turned around and closed the open bathroom door, leaving herself inside along with Aile.

'_Dear God! She's worse!_' Phantom added in despair, mentally cringing when Louise turned around and went closer to Aile.

Siesta stood there frozen in silence at what she saw; her protector and her savior, Aile, was standing there naked inside the bathroom covered in suds. That one second was enough, enough to imprint what she saw of the girl to her memory, and what she saw was so beautiful despite the scars that marred the girl's body, lightly tanned skin, perfect curves, and legs that … that … she jolted herself awake as she felt something trickle down her nose. She placed a hand to it and saw what it was and gasped when she found out that it was actually blood. She hurriedly wiped the blood from her nose with the handkerchief from her pocket, effectively wiping the evidence of what she was thinking a while ago.

The door opened again and Aile went out in her undergarments while Louise grabbed Siesta's arm and dragged her to her table. She took a few books and handed it over to the maid, "Here, you can have it; I don't need it anymore." She then turned to Aile and with dreamy eyes she added, "Keep it. I have the real deal from now on."

Siesta somehow felt her mind broke as she stared at the illicit literature on her hands and thus she came up with the only reply that her fried brain could manage at a time like this, "Eh?"

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

Two students sat, squirming in their seats as they waited their impending judgment, a judgment that was decided by the winner of their battle an hour ago. They looked up and shivered when their executioner appeared along with her master and the maid that started it all. Siesta was pushing a tray to their table and began placing tea and desserts to the four of them but for the first two it appeared to their eyes as their last supper.

Aile sipped silently, enjoying the natural taste of the bitter tea before gazing at the two before her. "All right, let's start this in a more civilized manner without any prejudice to either party." She placed her teacup down staring at it for a while as she assessed the situation and voiced in a cold, even tone like that of an assassin or a judge, "What is the real reason that we have to start that battle awhile ago?"

Montmorency was the first to speak up, "Well," she started, still quite nervous by AIle's show of power. Summoning her courage, she replied, "It was because the maid here stole my perfume. That perfume was actually given to me by Guiche so that she won't forget about me." She then crossed her legs, unknowingly, quite glad that she changed her uniform; and relieved that the slight tingling was gone.

"I see." Said Aile as she took in this information; she turned to the side and gave Siesta a glance measuring her reaction. When she found none she asked, "Siesta, did you steal it?"

"No," Siesta replied with a shake of her head then answered as truthfully as she could. "It was given to me by Mr. Gramont"

"You lie!" Montmorency hissed, "Why would Guiche steal something that he had given me?" once again, the power of logic trapped her mind in a never ending spiral of hate, banning her to the possibilities of the ones on the outside, unless someone forced it to her.

Siesta shivered at her glare and timidly replied, "I – I didn't lie. It was what happened."

Montmorency's left eye began twitching, "How can that be the truth when it sounded like you're trying to blame my Guiche?" She asked indignantly.

"Enough." Aile ordered in a voice that was neither harsh nor soft but rather even and it was enough to silence the two and cause a few of the eavesdropping students to flinch, they clearly remembered her show of strength. "The way that I see it, Guiche himself had some explaining to do." Her attention now lay to the said blonde noble boy.

Guiche gulped audibly at this. '_It is now or never,_' he thought as he began to tell his piece of the story, the very center piece of this long drawn puzzle. "It all started back four days ago when I first saw Siesta and decided to give her a bouquet of roses as a welcoming present to this academy." With this revelation, Montmorency gave him a sharp sideward glance. He gulped audibly at that as his panic slowly rose as the next disclosure will surely arouse questions but he remained vigilant in his seat. "It was an hour after that that I noticed that I was missing the vial that I took from Montmorency."

Siesta easily placed the equations together, "What? Then you really didn't give that?"

Followed by Montmorency's, "Then you did stole it?"

"Let him speak." Aile silenced them again, stopping them from getting things out of hand.

Louise looked at Aile curiously at the corner of her eye, wondering how she managed to control their actions with small precise commands. She was surprised when she saw Aile's iris having the color of the darkest night as if she was seeing everything in neutrality, assessing the situation in every possibility. Like what her mother would do in a situation like this.

"W – Well, let me explain," Guiche stuttered as he tried to get his bearings, "The reason I stole it was because the merchant that I brought it from had lost his formula over the fire and needed at least one vial to replicate it. He wasn't the original maker of the perfume but was instead given to him out of gratitude for his help."

"Montmorency's eyes widened at the implication of this, "T- Then that means…"

"Yes, my dear Monmon, I took it so that I can get you more but since Siesta used it, well…" He sighed, "There goes that plan of mine. Anyway, there's this question I want to ask of you Siesta," He said earning the maid's attention. "Where did you found the vial?"

"I found it at the vase when I was changing the flowers' water." She replied as she recalled the happenings earlier today. "It must have slipped in there when I had transplanted the flowers from the bouquet."

"Ah! Now I remember! I slipped it there so that I would not forget about it." Guiche exclaimed at himself, suddenly remembering that little tidbit of memory that got partially overwritten due to his intense focus at looking for the said item down the halls. He slumped back to his seat, "Since it is already too late, so much for that." Aile smiled at this as her eyes returned to their natural green color

The group sat in silence as the primary reason for their meeting had been adjourned and are now content at relaxing themselves. For some time, they spend it in mutual silence until it was shattered when something caught Montmorency's curiosity. "Um, Aile was it? Why do you have those things over your ears?"

Louise instead chose to answer that question, "That's because they're her ears." And this revelation earned her weird stares from the three people within earshot.

Aile turned her head and allowed them to see it more prominently. "You can touch it if you want." She said.

The two students edged their chairs closer to Aile and with curious hands; they felt the strange metallic protrusion to understand if it was real or fake. To their surprise, it stayed firmly in place, welded to Aile's skin and bone.

"What are you?" Montmorency gasped, staring straight to Aile left eye and noticed for the first time that it looked mechanical without the ridges and lines of a normal eye, "Are you a golem of some sort?" She asked, thinking that this might answer her question and the armor that Aile had displayed an hour ago.

"No, she's not a golem." Guiche clarified his girlfriend's question as he was the token expert in earth manipulations. "She has flesh and blood." He explained as he remembered back then, four days ago to when Aile suddenly appeared out of nowhere during Louise's summoning, covered in all of those nasty cuts and bruises. "Could you be a homunculus?"

"No Guiche," Aile answered in a frown, hating the fact that she was compared to an artificial being that pervaded against the rules of God. "I am what my homeworld calls a humanoid; a being that was born from the union of a human and a reploid."

"Wait, before you continue. What do you mean homeworld?" Asked Montmorency, startled by this strange fact.

Siesta blinked as a different question came to mind. "Reploid?"

Aile nonchalantly pointed at the sky causing the other four people to look up and look at where she was pointing at and was greeted to the sight of the two moons to which they glance at Aile quizzically, "In the world where I come from there in only one moon." This only caused the others to blink at her. "And in my world, there is no such thing as magic."

"That's – That's preposterous!" Montmorency was clearly surprised by this revelation, after all, how could a world exist without magic.

"If it was then I wouldn't be here right now drinking tea with you and instead I would be out there on my world's battlefield doing my job of eradicating mavericks." Aile replied rather coolly as if she expected that answer from one of them before she turned to the maid and answered her question, "Reploids are artificial beings that can think and act on their own, in a sense of the word they are like human beings capable of emotions."

"But how can there be a world without magic?"

"And what's a maverick?" Louise this time added.

Aile chucked at Montmorency's question before replying, "If you went to my world. You'd be surprised at how much we have accomplished compared this world. For in the world where I came from, we replaced the word 'Impossible' to 'Improbable' as for each problem that we have we will find a way sooner or later. And as for your question, Louise, mavericks are mechanoloids or other beings that threatened the lives of the inhabitants of my world. They are leveled in threats from E-Class that can be taken down easily to S-Class that can wreck entire continents or destroy the entire world." Yesterday, she classified all of this as confidential, but since she's in another world, how much harm can this information be?

The four natives shuddered at the thought of an enemy as strong as she had described, and due to her fighting prowess they doubt that she was telling a lie.

"Aile, yesterday, didn't you tell us that you had defeated a man named Serpent? What kind of class was he?" Louise asked.

Aile sighed as she set down her cup and stare at the two moons, contemplating whether to lie about it or tell the truth, in the end, she knew it wouldn't matter. "He was an S-Class Maverick, complete with multiple armies and I spearheaded the entire base alone. And do you remember what I said, about how I killed a man who thinks he's god? It was him."

"ALONE?" A new voice asked prompting the five of them to gaze at where it came from. It was Kirche with a girl that had azure hair with glasses in tow.

"Yes, I was always tasked with retiring S-Class targets as I am the only one that can match them during those times and anyway, it isn't important."

Kirche and the blue haired girl took a chair from a deserted table and added themselves to the cluster of students.

"So," Kirche began, a small glint in her visible eye appeared when she began her question, "You have the power in your hands but why did you spare them?" Aile looked at her quizzically. "Don't look at me like that; back there I see it in your eye that you are nearly willing to kill Montmorency."

"Eeep!" Montmorency squeaked at this, slowly trying to make herself as small as possible.

Aile suppressed the urge to twitch her eye; she wanted to tell Kirche that it wasn't really her who was tempted to do it but rather Leviathan. As Leviathan wasn't thrilled to hear that Montmorency was willing to kill Aile and acted out of desire to protect her. The biometal didn't just give Aile her power but also her anger and annoyance at the girl due to such a threat. She nearly gave a sigh of relief when Harpuia gave an adequate answer to Kirche's question. "Because I'm not foolish enough to kill a possible ally nor am I dumb enough to exercise violence to torture her mind into submission."

'_Aile, that girl with glasses had been glancing at us for a while now, I think she's measuring us._' Phantom interrupted, quite unnerved by the silent girl's glances.

'_I agree with Phantom here, let's exercise caution when she's in the vicinity._' X added.

'_All Right,_' Aile replied as the discussion devolved to idle chatter, allowing her shadow to watch the girl while she's not looking.

'_There's something that I'm forgetting here, hm …_' Montmorency thought while surveying the crowd before her eyes fell on to Aile. Sure, she's deathly afraid of Aile's power but still her curiosity got the best of her. He eyes opened wide before she proceeded to ask her question. "Wait, since Aile can summon an armor made out of the very element itself, does that mean that Louise is a water mage?"

All of them glanced at Louise except for Aile who tilted her head.

"Water mage?" She asked.

"Compatibility," The blue haired girl replied, turning another page while not even looking away from her book with a look of disinterest written on her eyes.

Deep inside, Phantom narrowed her eyes at her.

Kirche nodded at her friend and clarified, "Like **Tabitha** said, it was known that the familiar reflected the mage and since Louise here summoned a girl who can control water with just her mind and turn it into armor, a feat that not even the founder himself dared to do. So, does that mean that Louise is a water mage?"

"Normally so, yes, however …" Montmorency stopped right there, glancing at Louise.

"I cannot cast any water spell." Louise finished the sentence glumly.

Aile blinked before she replied without even thinking of the impact of her words. "I can use the armors of other elements too."

'_Aile!_' Zero screamed softly, '_Had you ever thought of the impact your words had unleashed?_'

'_Hm? Impact? What do you mean? We're in another world so it is all right to reveal it._'

X sighed inside and said mysteriously, '_You'll now find out why._' She then thought back and asked herself if she was this reckless. Facing Vile alone. _Check! _Going into battle without back up. _Check!_ Facing Sigma alone. _Also Check! _Ok, so she was reckless but still …

Everyone was shocked still at her words, everyone except Tabitha who narrowed her eyes while glancing at her. She knew that this girl was keeping an eye on her but at the same time she felt that Aile's attention was at the other mages and not at her. This girl must knew some very advanced magic to perform that feat and the armor that she saw, and if her words are to be believed then Aile must be a powerful multi-caster on par with the founder himself but if that's the case then what about Louise? For her to summon such a powerful being…

"What?" Guiche voiced everyone's reply perfectly in that single word. "That's – That's impossible! Everyone knows that you can only specialize in one final element. What you're saying right now goes against every tradition and teaching that the founder had set." He added with a few animated hand movements trying to show it to her by.

Aile giggled at the young man as he tried to show her the truth but failed miserably due to one critical flaw. "Guiche, had you forgotten? I'm not from this world, and in the world where I come from, if tradition doesn't give out viable results or if we can't do the tradition at all we would try other methods, improvise so to speak. For example, we would use scissors to cut paper but if we do not have that we would improvise by using a knife or fold the paper first and forcefully tear it in half. Another would be if you are in a jungle and you don't have anything to start a fire, a viable solution would be to rub two dry sticks together furiously to make friction which in turn produces heat and the heat itself would produce sparks which is what is needed to make fire."

"But we don't need to do that, we already have our wands to make fire." Louise pointed out.

"True, but what would you do if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but your clothes and no civilization as far as your eyes can see?" Aile questioned watching in silent delight as everyone except Tabitha squirmed. "Where I come from every child had, at least, one survival training in that their group must survive with nothing more than meager rations and a few tents for three days in an isolated part of a jungle that was to ensure that they could survive on their own if they got lost or something." She finished as she relieved those sweet memories and that time when she was foraging the forest with her brother as they gathered the wild vegetables.

_A shot went through her brother's chest as he ran in a futile attempt to draw the maverick's attention away from her…_

She tensed but her expression never wavered except for a few beads of sweat that appeared on her brow. '_That never happened! THAT NEVER HAPPENED! My brother was shot at the park and not at the forest._'

Tabitha glanced at Aile once before she turned another page. Unlike the others she felt the sudden thought brief heat in Aile's temperature and she knew by instinct that there's something that deeply unsettled her. A sudden bad memory perhaps? She knew for she had experienced the same thing before.

Blinking she tried to remove the thought from her mind. "So, anyway, how long was this magical tradition exercised?"

Placing her index finger on her lips, Kirche replied, "About six thousand years, more or less."

Aile turned her eye at the red head and hollered, "What? You have been doing the same thing over and over for that long with no progress at all?"

"Hey! Most of us would take offense at that!" Montmorency retorted, "Just so you know, magic gives us instantaneous solutions."

Aile leaned back at her seat and groaned. "You don't understand do you? The way that I see it, magic can only give you instantaneous but not prolonged solution." She turned her eye at the round table and explained her words slowly, "I believe you people love to use the words 'if I can get it moving like that how could I keep it in doing the same.' To the people of my world we use the words, 'if I can get it moving like that how could I improve it.'" She then looked straight at them, "I don't like it when I'm limited to something, when I reached my limit I would then try to push it off." She closed her eye and contemplated for a bit before gazing at them and saying, "One of these days I'll find a way to train all of you so that you'll understand the words that I had said."

Siesta blinked at Aile's melancholic words and said, "Does that include me as well?"

Aile smiled at that, "Of course!"

Kirche leaned forward and rested her head at the back of her hands. "Those weren't the words that would be spoken by someone who look your age. Tell me Aile, how old are you really?" This was straight out of the blue but she couldn't help but ask such a thing due to Aile's unnatural mental maturity.

Aile raised an eyebrow at that, "At the length of year of my homeworld, I'm Thirteen years old, why would you ask that, Kirche?"

"No way! You're only thirteen years old?" Kirche said as she mentally viewed Aile's body, "But your figure…"

Louise shivered as she didn't know that she summoned someone younger than her.

Aile shrugged at this, "We tend to grow fast before slowing down dramatically, when I reached my age of sixteen it would stop completely for one hundred and fifty years to one hundred and eighty or more before resuming again."

'_That stage was also known as reploid youth._' Leviathan stated.

"You'll stay as young as that for more than a hundred years? Darn! I'm envious of you."

Siesta thought about this, and checked Aile's before exclaiming in her soft voice muttering to no one and at the same time forgetting that she was in the company of others. "Dear founder, I'm a pedophile!"

Montmorency cocked her head cutely, "What's a pedophile?"

Siesta blushed deeply and covered her mouth.

Under the table, Aile took Louise's hand causing Louise to face her. Aile then mouthed the words. "Stay close to me. Pedophiles never stop!"

'_Yah, I know all about that Aile, since Zero herself never stop back during the day._' Chirped Leviathan.

'I'm not a pedophile, darn it!' Said Zero under clenched teeth.

'_Are you sure? You never stop looking for me back during those times, plus you're as old as X._'

'_I was on a mission! As a matter of fact you're the one who never stopped harassing me while at the same time you're getting turned on whenever you thought that I was gonna kill you. Do you have some sort of Oji-Con complex or something? Now you know why I always held myself back. You always creeped me out!_'

**=Cower in Fear when you Hear thy Name=**

Tranquility …

That was what Aile felt as she traded blows against her foe, against this … this abomination as it hopped around trying to escape the swipes of her sword like a damn chicken. She released a charged shot to which it easily dodged before charging toward her like a maddened bull, pinning her to the wall before it was pushed aside with a kick to the chest. She dashed, firing her weapon and managed to land two shots at him before returning the weapon back to a sword and sliced the pseudoroid's right arm apart.

It cowered to the side as it fired off a bright glowing ball of flame and concentrated in recovering its arm.

Aile, however, had other plans as she didn't even bothered to dash aside to escape the oncoming ball of flame and instead had opted to meet it head on and it collided with her helmet before exploding and engulfing her. She ignored the ringing in her ears as the microphone in them short-circuited and lowered her hearing range. She ignored the pain as some of her skin peeled off from the sheer heat of flame. For all that she could she was the murderer in front of her, a murderer who killed one of her friends. Her vision darkened as parts of her optics got damaged but it was enough for she saw the horrified look on its metallic face as she charged without a care for her injuries and started hacking off the pseudoroid's body before it could even recover. She started with the remaining arm, destroying it instantly before cracking the armor of its body with a powered overhand slash, next she kicked it to a nearby wall, pinning it there. Switching to buster mode she rained the abomination with a hail of energized plasma set at a low temperature to prevent death but to prolong the pain and suffering of her opponent.

No …

Opponent was not the right word, victim was more appropriate as an opponent can fight back but a victim? It can do nothing but take the punishment.

She was surprised for a while when her weapon disappeared along with her armor. '_Aile, that's enough!_' X ordered, he agreed in retiring mavericks but not torturing them.

'_Aile, what had gotten into you?_' Asked Zero as he tried to feel her distress but was surprised as he could not enter her thoughts.

But she wasn't done yet and instead she picked up the fallen guardian's pistol and resumed firing till it clicked. Annoyed, she threw the empty weapon to the fallen abomination before walking closer to gaze at the damage that she caused upon it.

There was almost nothing left of the pseudoroid but a damaged head and a nearly disemboweled body but for some strange miracle, it was still alive. It chuckled weakly, despite the damaged that it sustained, "Yes … That's right … release your anger … you will be a great … vessel … for model W … like he planned …" And with those words, his life energy disappeared and he died not in a great bang

But in a whimper …

Overcome with a silent fury that seemed to cool the heat around her instead of burning her down. She took a deep breath and roared her frustration and sadness away before she finally calmed down and tears fell down her face at what she had done.

'_Do not cry from your loss of control but rather learn from it._' Said a voice, she looked up from her kneeling position and saw an outline of a floating object.

Or was it someone?

**AN1:**

Guiche didn't know that he accidentally left the vial at the rose bouquet and Siesta found it at the bottom of the vase when she was going to change the water after two days and she used it.

Aile tried to defend Siesta, even if her right arm is still badly hurt. She did it by slapping Montmorency due to the girl's inability to listen. She used her left hand.

Guiche was dragged to the duel by Montmorency, stating that it was also his pride that was at stake but Guiche knows that it was all an understanding and tried to stop it. Of course he failed.

**AN2:**

I didn't plan on making the biometals to turn to girls go and blame Aile for it. Not to mention it gave me so much of a head ache but since they are now like that I decided to just go with the flow.

I actually planned to break Fefnir actually, not her pride but rather her manliness or once manliness. But then again I decided to write it.

Copper was known as fool's gold back during the middle ages, so it would be the same as comparing fake and true gold

The Gameplay of Megaman Zero 4 got stuck to my head, and thus what Aile was doing sounded a lot more like how Zero was using his Z Knuckle

Look, it may be confusing but I have to tell you, the biometals aren't weapons but rather they are a living counter force against model W and thus they differ greatly from a living weapon like Derflinger. There is a difference.

THANK GOD I FINISHED IT~! I was surprised at how long this one take.

I might as well give a spoiler for a spoiler right now, sometime in the near future meaning it is still in the FoZ season 1 I will give a spoiler that will shake all of you guys up and it just comprised of one word.

Sorry for not updating, it was due to a certain computer virus that slows down my PC and infects every .exe in my PC luckily I am able to wipe it off by formatting the Hard Disk Thrice.

**Replies:**

Most people: Like I said, this isn't Yuri.

VT: Well, we can always screw with terminology =D . What I meant to say is that I had a different terminology.

Harouki: No, more like I will take Aile as a sword a bit more literal. And besides, Humans are animals.

willi890: Like I said, Biometals aren't weapons and I explained already why Aile is a Windalfr from the story


	5. Chapter 05: Her Beloved Child

**Chapter 05: The Daughter of Gaia**

**.**

_You'll tell me what she is; whatever you'll discover about her. _– Guiche

**.**

Louise suddenly opened her eyes, sweating profusely, while her breathing came in hard and ragged. She slowly tried to sit up on the bed, feeling the rapid beating of her heart on her chest. Removing the blanket from her body, she moved to the side and stood up leaving Aile sleeping alone on the large bed. She took a deep breath and sighed, contemplating the strange dreams about her summon and the alien world that kept appearing. Walking to the window, she peered outside and saw the two moons that never seemed to disappear, another thought appeared on her mind, asking herself as to why whenever she looked at Aile, she got this slight tingling on her chest that seemed to grow more and more whenever she was near her. Was it the work of the contract perhaps or was she slowly falling in love with her beautiful girl. She blushed at that. Her beautiful girl? Where did that thought come from? Sure, Aile was hers but that didn't mean that, well, ok, she did but that was just a familiar contract and a strange one at that since there hadn't been a humanoid familiar ever since … Brimir's … time …

A dawn of realization entered her mind as she whirled her head to look at the sleeping humanoid. '_She … She said that she's a humanoid … No. NO! That's not possible! I can't have the power of the void; the magic of the founder himself. I'm … I'm just the Zero, not some all powerful wizard, I mean witch._' With a tiny mewl of frustration, she closed her eyes, and looked at the heavens or would have looked if she hadn't closed them.

After a few minutes her denial slowly subsided but never left, it was still there throbbing like a wound on her heart. Slowly, she returned back to bed and sat there at the edge with her back facing Aile with a slight blush on her face. With a tone of resignation she laid herself down and moved closer to the young humanoid until she's right next to her. "But if it is true that I'm a Void mage …" She then cupped Aile's right cheek with her left hand and in a continued whisper, she said, "Then with your presence alone is enough to tell me that I'm not just a zero."

Slowly she moved away but her other hand got tangled behind the bed sheets and due to her awkward position and her weight, her upper body fell and her face would have fell on top of Aile if she hadn't recovered her balance in the nick of time but the same couldn't be said with their lips and Louise felt a tiny amount of her willpower drained away entering the young girl through her lips.

Louise abruptly broke their contact.

Aile moaned at that but didn't woke up allowing Louise a sigh of relief before lowering her cheek to Aile's left chest and lain herself at her side while lowering her left hand in front of her at the small bulge of Aile's silk night dress; technically, it was hers but she gave it to her since she didn't have anything to wear and she was a bit jealous at what she was holding since Aile' s body was a bit mature for her age unlike her who's growth was stunted. A blush crept up her face when she noticed this; how could she become so attached to her little summon like this? So intimate and very vulnerable? Case in point when she felt Aile's hand subconsciously cupped her bottom, but it mattered not for she felt … content … whenever she felt Aile's skin on her own.

**=The Force of Nature=**

Montmorency mewled piteously as she hugged the largest body pillow on her bed. Yes, she was hugging her pillow, not rutting on it. As she tried again and again to remove the strange pleasurable feeling that Aile had given her that morning.

It was, suffice to be said, intense, and her body wanted more but her mind was against such thoughts for it knew how inappropriate that was. She mewled again, it was … frustrating to say the least as he body ignored the orders of her mind to be still.

'_Dammit! Why do I keep thinking about her?_' She thought barely keeping herself from screaming the words as she rubbed her inner thighs to the pillow, '_I am not a lesbian! Having a boyfriend just proves that!_' She sat up on her bed, her breathing hot and ragged. Reaching under her pillow, she moved her left hand around, trying to find 'it'. This feeling was almost as bad as when her father took her to meet her.

She took a deep breath, looked up, and exhaled; her hot breath turning into steam as they condensed in the cool air. She knew how cold it was but her body couldn't help itself but sweat. Her hand moved around still trying to reach it fully knowing that it would be in her grasp soon enough. A smile found its way to her mouth before her eyes rolled back and she closed her eyes as her body fell down on her bed when she finally found it.

She raised her left hand, and swirled her wand a few times, ordering the tiny little droplets to circle the room again and again creating a small wind causing the room to get colder; she sighed, quite content that her body was slowly cooling off. She then returned to the matter at hand, '_But if I'm not a lesbian but still attracted to a girl and at the same time having a boyfriend, does that mean that I'm Bi-Sexual?_' An image of her beloved Guiche and Aile appeared on her mind, doing things to her that she had only read in books. She felt herself heating up again and with another mewl she bit the pillow that she was hugging and concentrated furiously at the image of Guiche, trying to omit Aile entirely. They were both girls and if she had fallen in love with the mysterious Aile then it was all over as two girls would never bear fruit and her family line would die due to her stupidity.

Unknown to her, her tears welled up and fell but it didn't fell down, it went up and slowly disappeared to the slow silent wind.

**=The Force of Nature=**

Guiche gave out a sigh of relief while at the same time wiping his forehead of the cold sweat that had accumulated there. He stood up and stretched his back, feeling the stressed portions relaxing a bit as the burden that was task to them was finally lifted, allowing Guiche a small sense of respite. He took a few steps back and admired at his own handiwork of beautiful excellence.

Verdandi squeaked as her owner looked down at her with eyes that shown with pride. Quite glad that he took the time in grooming her till her fur became shiny while dust and other small things won't be able to pass through and irritate her with their presence. She squeaked again, her eyes glowed with clear appreciation for his hard work and in return she would serve him faithfully as his familiar, never betraying him for anything; unless it was a shiny jewel of course.

Guiche allowed himself to fell down on his back; landing on his bed with enough force to prevent glass from breaking. Slowly, his mind began to drift, a clear sign at how tired he was, first it settled on to his beloved Montmorency. His beautiful, beautiful Montmorency all soft and smooth … and her lips, how he wished to …

_**STOP!**_

He screamed inside and gasped. He shouldn't think of his Montmorency like that. His Montmorency is a soft and delicate flower and thinking of her with such impure thoughts is equivalent to soiling her image. He breathed in deep and exhaled in a ragged, shaky sigh. He wanted to take her now, wanting to see the beautiful butterfly resting inside of her cocoon of clothes but she was still a small budding flower who hadn't yet bloomed and taking her now would twist that into a frightening visage of an over ripe fruit way past its date. He shivered at that, after all that was his true reason as to why he was trying to captivate the hearts of the other girls but then again he would never give his virginity to anyone but Montmorency. He cringed as he tried to force his thoughts away for it was slowly treading dangerous grounds.

The vision of Aile came up on his mind and he couldn't help but frown at the image that he saw. '_Just what is she? What kind of power that she had to be able to will the element?_' And if what he heard was true then none of the students in this academy could stop her. And what about Louise? The one who summoned the girl and bent her to her will. What's stopping her from unleashing Aile? And for that matter, what was the affinity of someone who summoned a humanoid familiar? After all, there's no recorded history of someone summoning that kind of familiar except during the time of the founder Brimir …

_During the time of the Founder …_

"Wait, WHAT?" He screamed bolting upright on his bed, frantically startling his familiar and forcing it to take cover at the table due to panic. "No, NO! Impossible!" He frantically denied it. '_Louise as a VOID MAGE? That's – That's just not possible! Preposterous even!_' "The Zero, A Void Mage?" he said to no one, his mind going into overdrive as Verdandi slowly peeked from the table watching her master made some gestures that she couldn't understood.

But then again, there's no denying it as the recorded history itself said that Brimir's familiars are all humanoids. Humanoids, the very same as Aile's race when she revealed who she really was. If that's the case then he and everyone who laughed at her master are, for the lack of a better word and thus forcing him to think of what the commoners called it, 'royally screwed'. He gulped, if Louise found out what her affinity was then he'd better take measurements to ensure that his Montmorency wouldn't suffer from her wrath.

'_Could it be why Reynard had stopped me before hand and asked me to keep an eye on Aile?_' He thought, quite shocked from this revelation.

A knock on the doorway made him halt his thoughts. He stood up and opened the door. Montmorency appeared from behind it wearing only her night clothes, dragging behind a large pillow and without a word she leaned in close to him before hugging. "Guiche, please let me sleep with you. I don't think I can hold on."

Guiche eyes widened in alarmed shock and surprise; did he hear his girlfriend right? Did she just ask to sleep with him out of the blue in his bed?

Naturally, he freaked out. "Wh-Wha…?"

Blushing madly, Montmorency silenced him with a kiss as her hands were behind his body. Parting, she said, "You heard me right you big oaf! Now shut up and take me to bed!"

This was it! This was the one that all the guys wanted from their girlfriends and yet here he was trying to deny it. "B-but I thought we would do that after we graduated from the academy?" He nearly yelled as he closed the door with his foot.

Montmorency's blush had spread down along her chest, layering her shoulder in a pinkish glow. She hit him on the head, "I-I didn't mean that. I just I – Ahh!" She bit him on the neck making him wince while he felt the wetness from her crotch dampen his night clothes. She eased before saying, "Please Guiche… I do not want to think of anyone else but you."

He could only blink at this while he carried her in his arms and walked to the bed. His mind frantically tried to form reasons as to why his girlfriend acted like this but only came up with one. It could be that Montmorency saw another man that she found appealing but her heart was dead on straight for Guiche, for him only; and it bothered her enough to come to him for reassurance, telling her mind that her heart had already found her man. He wanted to smile down at her as he laid her on his bed but decided against it for he knew that it would only serve to irritate her. What she was trying to do right now was the opposite of what he did on his own for only by sheer force of will, she tried to forget about the other, forcing herself to bask in her boyfriend's face while he would surround himself with the girls that he liked and point out in his mind why would they never compare to his Montmorency.

He sighed and waited for his girlfriend to settle under the covers before he started walking to his lone couch to sleep there but a hand stopped him in his tracks. "No! Don't go. Which part of sleeping with me do you not understand?" She said, trying to sound forceful but failed miserably. Slowly, her expression softened and she pleaded, "Please, hold me Guiche. Let me sleep under your arms."

He gulped down the lump under his throat audibly for no man can resist the words that she had chosen. But what she had proposed and what most men would think are vastly different, for men would think of their libidos even unconsciously while women would think of reassurance from them. He sighed as he calmed himself and went under the covers with her before telling her something in her ear, "I'll wake you up later before morning." He then placed his arms around her, assuring her that he wouldn't leave.

She smiled shyly, hiding it from his view as she pressed her forehead to his chest, she felt his arms wrap around her and she embraced the feeling of his warmth before slowly succumbing to the bliss of unconsciousness.

For the first time he sighed and reflected what he had done, maybe he should stop and focus solely on his girlfriend instead of trying to beat himself around the bush.

**=The Force of Nature=**

The young child named Reynard yawned and placed his hand to cover it despite the fact that there's no one to see him do such a thing. It didn't need to be explained why people did things like this for it was one of the ingrained mannerisms that had been taught to him back when he was an impressionable child. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, obviously tired from the research that he was doing; a research that had yet to yield any fruit. He was a researcher by heart, an advisor in trade, and a helpful friend when needed, but this time it seemed that he had to act for in mind he was a tactician, calculating every move and watching with patience as the pieces were set in place. But Aile was different in almost every way for it was common knowledge that animals and magical creatures are lower than humans no matter if he or she was a commoner or a noble, but if Aile, a human had been summoned as a familiar by the Zero no less who was considered a failure as a mage due to her spells constantly exploding, never managing to make even one success, then what would it describe them? The mages who had summoned familiars that are considered lower than a mere human? He should have asked himself the question as the answer had already shown itself, resulting in Aile's show of force earlier today and despite her handicap had managed to outwit, outplay, and outclass her two opponents in a two versus one battle. It was well known that a commoner could never beat a noble in a one on one battle but Aile had completely shattered that common knowledge with her against two of them, showing proficiency in battle like she was dancing on a stage that she only knew of.

His mind returned to that particular memory, Aile's movements was, suffice to say, beautiful yet uniquely frightening. She showed a battle prowess that had never been seen before in a small scale engagement. Her moves were aggressive yet conservative, attacking specific weak spots with all her might while at the same time conserving her energy, not to mention using her enemies' strengths against them; and he knew that it sounded like being hit with a sledgehammer with pinprick precision. He blinked at this; it sounded more like guerilla warfare now that he thought about it and Aile did mention that she was fighting a war back at her world. World? Yes, if what she said was the truth.

His eyes gazed to the side of the table and grabbed the small piece of paper that he had written in notes that he overheard from the professors. Overheard not eavesdropped for said professors were saying it out loud back then. He looked it over and began to piece together the knowledge that he had gathered from them. Initially, like all of them thought, Aile was human but the wounds that she had received are said to be enough to kill a normal person three times over pertaining her inhuman endurance and will to live, and earlier that morning, he got a snippet that Aile should still be in bed moaning in agony due to her injuries thus pointing out that Aile could somehow numb her pain or, as the most possible explanation, heal herself faster. He didn't know what the professors think but he knew that Aile was not human and thus he tried and failed to stop Guiche from fighting against her, only managing to slow him down to think about what he had said and agree to his request to watch Aile and Louise closely.

And earlier, Aile showed them the biggest surprise; able to call forth and use singlehandedly the Armor of God in a non-incanted spell; an impossibility in and of itself especially from someone who didn't have magic. But she … she had bent reality so easily like it was already her second nature to appear like a peaceful, normal person and when the need roused she would show herself to be a capable warrior able to strike fear to the heart of her enemy, shatter their defenses, and utterly obliterate their will to fight. And later, she specifically told them that she was no longer human or rather she was never human to begin with for she was a humanoid, a being that was said to be a familiar of the founder himself if the books are to be believed. He needed more information to make an assessment though and began to plan his schedule for tomorrow. He stood up and extended his fatigued body before preparing to sleep.

**=The Force of Nature=**

Aile awoke slowly, her internal chronometer telling her that it was still too early to wake up but her instincts told her to wake up and she could clearly see the horizon starting to glow. She blinked at this, trying to stave off the sleep and wondering why her clock was off before a sudden realization came that she was no longer at her world and thus her previously set time would prove ineffective as it was set to her planet. A body scan came in next as was the systems check and she set those to full, allowing her a more detailed description of her injuries and other necessities. She felt someone stir under the covers, trying to get into a more comfortable position before settling back to sleep. She looked down and saw a mop of pink hair and a hand over her breasts; she blinked at this and tried to raise her left hand only for it to get caught under some sort of fabric. She raised an eyebrow curiously before squeezing experimentally and resulted in an elicited moan from Louise. A blush slowly began to appear when she realized that she was holding Louise's behind again, she removed it slowly and began running her hand at Louise's back, telling her to wake up.

Louise stirred, blinking at the inappropriate time and pushed herself up, unknowingly squeezing Aile's breast earning a complaint from her to which she ignored. Her gaze turning to the horizon and saw only the orange glow of the sky but not the sun. "But it's too early…" She mumbled before lowering herself to the softest pillow that she had ever slept on and began rubbing her face to it.

"Ah! H-hey! Louise!" Aile whined, not exactly liking Louise's molestation of her breasts and unconsciously making the intimate parts of her breasts to harden.

Louise groaned angrily as she felt something harden on her cheek. She raised her head and used her index and middle finger to pinch the pair of annoying pink … things … that was disturbing her sleep.

_**GASP!**_

The pain of being fired upon with white hot plasma rounds was searing and very painful. The pain of having your most vulnerable parts touched like this was, well, not as painful but it was enough to awaken her natural instinct to protect her chastity until the right man came to take it or perhaps a woman if she was inclined. She batted the offending hands away and roughly shoved Louise off of her. Good thing that the bed was quite large otherwise Louise would simply be thrown off. Blushing madly and with a few streaks of tears on her lone visible emerald eye, she nearly screamed at Louise. "Louise! Will you control yourself! That hurts you know!" Her hands went up to her breasts and cupped them with the right a bit more awkwardly. She noticed this and looked at her right hand and experimentally tried to close it. No such luck, her nerve endings on her hand were still broken but at least her arm was fine.

Now fully awake, Louise screamed at her, "What was that for?"

Aile looked at her, a tear falling down her cheek. "You were squeezing them!" She replied though her blush deepened and was now coloring her upper chest when she thought of what she had said.

Louise immediately deflated from that for pressing on would mean that she was a pervert. She then paled when an image of it appeared on her mind.

Aile looked quizzically at her summoner who had fallen silent with a mouth that gaped like a fish. She cocked her head and waved her hand eliciting a gasp as Louise drew her breath.

Louise looked at her side and noticed a deeply red hued Aile. Bowing low she asked, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She apologized, meaning every word. "I - I didn't know what came over me."

She sighed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. "That's fine. Don't worry about it." She drew in a deep breath, her skin slowly returning to normal.

Louise stretched, giving Aile a silhouette of her body under that silk nightgown as the sun slowly rose behind her. Aile gulped at the sight, she was so small yet so beautiful like a fragile, natural flower that could only live in controlled environments. True that Louise wasn't as small as her but it was enough to give off a radiance of innocence, the innocence that she had lost when Giro died for her and was replaced with a firm resolve to bring down Serpent. Louise stood up and offered her hand to Aile. "Well, since we're awake. Might as well freshen up, no?"

Aile nodded and took the offered hand forgetting a certain fact that she was a lot heavier than she looked and almost dragged Louise down but she had fortunately recovered her footing before she fell on her. "Sorry about that, I forgot that I'm a lot heavier than I look."

"Is it normal for your kind?"

"Being a bit heavier? Yes, since it also provides us an anchor to the ground when lifting heavy objects."

Like the days before this, they marched to the bathroom and hanging on Aile's left hand were some lingerie that Louise had chosen for the both of them. Looking at Aile from the side of her vision, Louise contemplated Aile's breasts size as it filled her nightclothes; she blushed a bit in jealousy before it disappeared for she knew that she had to buy some clothes and lingerie for her to fit her larger chest size since yesterday she could have sworn that she saw Aile's rack _bounce _for the underwear that she wore was much too loose for being only an under shirt, _Louise_'s undershirt since Aile didn't have clothes of her own; perhaps later this day? Or maybe tomorrow, since tomorrow would be the day of the void dedicated to the founder giving them a whole day to look for clothes shops instead of just a few hours.

A silent notification entered Aile's consciousness as she removed the last article of her clothing, alarming her that the scan and system's check had finished their analysis of her body. The system's check still displayed a few broken nerve connections on her right arm but otherwise her whole body was now fully healed, the scan showed that everything was going smoothly with all of the bone fractures healed and her right eye was now functioning at ninety-five percent efficiency, detailing some minor focus errors but was otherwise functional. She hesitated for a bit at what she was about to do next but pressed on as she removed the bandage on her right eye, allowing it to fall on to the ground and slowly but surely, her right eye opened to gaze at her reflection in the mirror.

Red …

Her right eye was red …

Aile gasped at the reflection of her right eye, it looked like someone had replaced her eye with another, more sinister one with the color of blood and war oozing from it, stopping her short for a second before the feeling subsided and she checked the information about her right eye. There's a detail that she had missed saying that the chrome coloration had malfunctioned and that she needed to consult a doctor if she wanted to have it repaired but it also detailed her that it won't hinder her sight, just the coloration. She shrugged; there are no engineering doctors here on this backwater planet so she couldn't fix it but then again having a different eye color was kind of a nice change to her appearance albeit a small one but quite noticeable. And since the chrome coloration was malfunctioning, it would just mean that her right eye wouldn't change color while wearing the armor of the biometals.

It differed slightly from Fefnir's eye color of burning Vermillion though.

A sudden question entered her mind and decided to share it, '_X, Zero, did you guys do something last night? My eye should have been at eighty percent repaired instead of ninety-five given the constant energy output that I had on it._'

Instead of the two in question, the one who answered was Harpuia, '_No, Aile, we were all in sleep mode last night. We didn't notice anything._'

A sudden cry forced Aile out of her musing. "Ow! My eye!" Louise's voice was like a spear that cut through Aile's thoughts. Turning around, the thirteen year old girl gazed at the strawberry headed girl that was frantically trying to reach for the tub.

Aile moved like the wind and splashed water to Louise's eyes, removing the suds that were causing harm to the girl.

Louise removed the excess water from her eyes and blinked them rapidly, allowing her focus to return. Muttering her thanks to Aile, she raised her head to look at her face. Aile was there smiling at her but she knew that there's something different about her but she couldn't place the word until she noticed the bright gleaming ruby staring at her. "Aile, what happened to your eye? Is your eye truly like that?"

"No, it wasn't like this before. There was a malfunction on my eye but don't worry. I can still see."

Louise tiled her head, not really knowing the meaning of the word 'malfunction' but nodded her head nonetheless since she knew that asking about it would only make her ask more questions.

"By the way, if you don't mind me asking. Did you do anything last night?"

Louise blushed at that and lowered her gaze, clearly remembering what she accidentally did last night and the sudden tiny drain of her willpower, trying not to stare at Aile's mismatched eyes. "No … Nothing. I didn't do anything."

Aile could only tilt her head cutely but nodded in response. "Well, let's get you cleaned up."

**=The Force of Nature=**

Guiche slowly rose from his bed and slowly gazed at the girl resting on his arms and it took all of his will to force the urge to cuddle with her and sleep. He knew what he had to do right now, he slowly left the bed and stretched himself before shaking Montmorency.

Montmorency moaned and tried to bat the offending hand away. Wanting nothing more than to sleep and stay behind the covers.

"Montmorency, please wake up." Guiche whispered to her ear but not yet frantic.

Sleep began to slowly seep into her mind again but a single thought went up to head asking, '_Why was Guiche in my room?_' Her mind began to drift slowly until the full impact of what her inner voice had said shot to her consciousness. She shot herself up …

_**BONK!**_

… And her larger than normal forehead met Guiche's, shooting him up and to the side while she clutched her forehead as she squirmed on the bed.

"Mon-mon, that hurts!" Wailed Guiche, holding his forehead to lessen the pain of impact that her abrupt movement had caused.

"G-Guiche! Why are you in my room?" Montmorency asked as the pain on her forehead subsided and her mind became clear. She eyed first her boyfriend before she noticed something and looked all over the room. "Wait, this isn't my room. Isn't this your room? Why am I here? Did you do something to me?" She asked, hugging herself as a sudden thought came to her mind with Guiche on top of her and … "Arg! Stop it!"

"Eh? Stop what? And secondly, aren't you the one who came to my room last night?"

"M-m-m-me?" Montmorency stuttered, flushed beyond reason at the words that he spoke. "W-Why would I come to your room? I definitely remember last night that I was … oh." Her flush slowly subsided when she remembered what happened, of why she was here. She was desperate last night, forcing herself to forget the familiar that Louise had summoned. It was like the time that she had visited her ancestor's home and it had taken her a few days for the feeling to subside such as it was to feel the presence of a mythical being.

Guiche walked up to her and patted her on her head making her snap out of her reverie to gaze at him. "Sorry about waking you up this early but it would be bad for the both of us if you had been discovered sleeping with me."

Both of them blushed at what he said and avoided eye contact with each other.

A moment had passed before Montmorency stood up, muttered her thanks and walked out the door, completely forgetting the pillow that she had brought with her.

Guiche looked back at the bed after sometime Montmorency had left and noticed the large pillow that was naturally looked out of place with his room before remembering that it was Montmorency's for he had been to her room countless of times. Without a word, he grabbed and hugged it, intending to catch up to his beautiful girlfriend as he walked closer to the door but after a few steps he stopped when he smelled the fragrant scent of his beloved. '_Maybe she wouldn't mind if I keep it just for today?_' He thought as he fell, back first to his bed clutching the pillow tightly to himself.

**=The Force of Nature=**

"Hey Aile …" Louise started looking to her side to where Aile was walking with her.

"Hm?" Asked Aile as she was snapped out of her reverie. Removing her gaze from her bandaged hand and wrist, she tuned and gazed at Louise, luckily for her, she no longer needed her sling.

"Why are you following me, you don't have classes since you're not a student here." Louise said voicing her thoughts on the matter all the while clutching her books tighter to her underdeveloped chest. No, she's not in any way jealous that Aile had larger breasts than hers despite the fact that she's three years younger than her. Three years younger. THREE YEARS YOUNGER! In three more years her breasts would become humongous! Melons even! And just like yesterday it would swing side to side … _bouncing_ … all the … while …

Aile blinked when Phantom told her the sudden change in Louise's demeanor, first from exasperation, then to shyness, then to jealousy, then to anger, and finally, as crazy as it sounded relaxed happiness. She turned her eyes at Louise and raised an eyebrow at what she saw.

Zero's eyes saw everything and came to the only conclusion that X and Aile won't even thought of, nodding in understanding all the while on her own explanation. '_Hehehe. I think I know what Louise is thinking._'

'_Hmm? What was she thinking Zero?_' Both X and Aile asked. As always, the two of them are as dense as ever especially when it came to this sort of thing.

Harpuia wanted to shiver. In her now feminine mind, Zero sounded like a perverted old man, or was it woman? Whatever! She didn't want to think about it too hard especially if it was Zero. And right now, she was wondering how Master X (Mistress X?) managed to stand Zero's personality for more than three centuries. Four centuries if one counted their age.

Phantom wanted to stab Zero. How dare her to try and corrupt Mistresses X and Aile with vague hints of indecency.

Louise had closed her eyes and allowed her facial muscles relax, letting her mouth agape with that relaxed smile as all her worries ceased to exist to be replaced by those luscious orbs; those luscious bouncing orbs that Aile of the future possessed and the feeling of those soft, smooth things as she slowly went to sleep.

"LOUISE!"

Startled out of her daydream, she was roughly yanked on her collar saving her from slamming her head on the wall. "Ah! Thank you, Aile."

"Please don't put your head in the clouds while walking. It invites all sorts of dangers." Aile explained, it was quite literally true since she spoke from her experience.

Louise nodded her head. "I'll keep that in mind." All the while trying to shake away the thought of her girl having those enormous pillows and how soft those would be. Yes … so soft - Stop! You're repeating it. She stopped and shook her head; she really didn't want that image right now. She turned to the side and opened the door.

The two of them were greeted to a large room with the seats designed in a slope that it descended to the blackboard. Why was it called a blackboard when it wasn't even black to begin with? Aile blinked at the dark green board, she didn't realize that they were still using that old fashioned board. As a matter of fact she thought that they would use something a bit more magical but then again a blackboard still gave off a lot of sense than a whiteboard or the futuristic Locally Networked Computers back at home.

Aile noticed something from her musings. It was like she was comparing the mysterious past, the ever present, and the far flung future to which she seemed to come from. It felt like she was trying to add them all together in a single timeline to make a hodgepodge world with the mystics of the past, the unyielding present, and the machinations of the future. After that single daydream she retuned back to the present, both she and Louise sat at the middle row with Montmorency at the back but on te way things are going, she can only see her legs.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Montmorency was trying her hardest not to look at Aile, determined to take her off her sight using her blonde curls as a distraction and focus solely on her notes.

Aile blushed when she saw Montmorency's stockings underneath the skirt and a shock of understanding appeared on her mind. She hurriedly closed her legs and placed both of her hands at the top of her skirt fully knowing that she didn't wore anything to hide her underwear from would be skirt chasers all the while wondering if the headmaster was a pervert or something to have had allowed this kind of sitting arrangement. Another realization entered her mind and she moved her head to stare at Louise's legs and realized that she didn't notice the spread of her legs, made even worse by the fact that her stockings didn't cover her underwear. She leaned closer to her and whispered to Louise's ear. "Louise, close your legs."

Louise raised an eyebrow and a question appeared on her face asking, why?

"Well…" Aile let the answer hang before she gazed forward and noticed a boy trying to take a peek all the while trying to hide it but it failed under Aile's tight observation.

But unfortunately for Aile, Louise didn't get the connection between the boy and her legs. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, "Why? What's with him?"

Aile suppressed the urge to sigh; this girl was sometimes as dense as thick syrup. Never understanding what the other was trying to convey until it was said to her directly and Aile did just that. "That kid over there kept looking at our underwear."

Aile felt a nudge on her consciousness and Phantom shared her mind with her nearly turning the both of them into one being with the sole intent on the young man. And for just a fraction of a second she had the urge to throw one of her kunais at him and since she was quite fast no one would notice that it was her. But then again, they would suspect her since she's the only one who could move fast enough.

Louise immediately blushed and hastily closed her legs. She looked up with a scowl on her face directly at her classmate to which he ignored before moving away seemingly smug as he did so.

All of that ended when he felt someone's eyes on him, he turned around to find where it came from and noticed the gaze of the girl that the Zero had summoned and saw the frown on her face. She lifted her left arm, placed the thumb at her neck before making a horizontal cut on it, a well known universal gesture that signify an imminent death at her hands lest he stop. He immediately swallowed the lump on his throat before looking away to return to his seat, sweating profusely. He knew about her terrifying strength that was able to tear bronze apart with her bare hand and her ability to be able to call forth the armor of water that he was sure that would make this girl invulnerable in any battle. And that was when she still had her injuries, and now that she had healed enough he doubted that any of them could lay a finger on her let alone their magic.

The door at the side of the blackboard creaked open and a middle aged woman appeared from it prompting the students to silence before hurrying back to their seats.

Phantom's mind removed herself from Aile and returned to where she came from alongside the others within Aile's mind. Being a girl maybe something new to Phantom and she could care less about it for I was neither advantageous nor a hindrance, but she'd be damned if she would let someone get away from looking at a girl's underwear. And when she returned, Leviathan spoke her thanks to her. Quite please with the length that Phantom would go just to protect Aile from anyone.

The lecture slowly turned into a dull droning unknowingly making Aile daydream about trivial things. That was, until the Professor known as Madam Chevreuse asked about the four fundamental elements of magic. Aile's interest immediately picked up at that making her lean forward with a tiny glimmer in her mismatched eyes.

"Can anyone tell me the four fundamental elements of magic?" Asked the Professor and a student raised her hand. "Miss Zerbst?"

Kirche wanted to pout right then and there; she really didn't raise her hand but Tabitha used her wind spell to make her hand shot up. But still, she stood up anyway, "They are the Earth, Wind, Water, and the great Fire." She said, placing more emphasis on her own element than the others. She sat back down and glared at Tabitha. She knew that it was Tabitha but the azure haired girl in question had the uncanny knack of hiding her expression from anyone making it all but impossible to know what was going on in her mind.

Professor Chevreuse acknowledged the answer but not the quiet rivalry that the two seemed to be doing right now. Either she ignored it completely or she was oblivious to it. Moving on, she asked the next question on her mind. "And do any of you know how many levels can a mage attain by combining the elements?"

The person behind Louise raised her hand and replied, "Professor," she stood up and moved her hair to the side unconsciously allowing herself a better view of Aile, "Up to four elements professor. A mage with a single element is a Dot, combining two elements is a Line, three for a Triangle, and four for a Square class." Once she was done, she unconsciously looked to the side, a mistake in itself because her eyes glanced directly to Aile's own orbs and the memory that she had been trying to suppress with studying came back with full force. A blush appeared on her cheeks forcing her to sat back down and hide her face with her notes, reading frantically to settle her face while at the corner of her eyes she saw Aile's eyes drift away from her giving her time for a few deep breaths to settle her rapidly beating heart.

The Professor smiled at her answer while at the same time oblivious to the drama that her student had for the Professor was a very simple woman, thinking only about on how to inspire her students unknowingly. Such as what she was doing right now, she was teaching hem the power of a question in that when you ask you shall receive.

A student to the side stood up, interrupting the professor with his words, "Excuse me for interrupting but there is one of us that that couldn't even use a single element." With those words alone the whole class was silenced with a few glancing at Louise with the young man being the strongest in a condescending stare. He grinned, the girl may be able to defeat him but he doubted that the professor could be bested by a mere child.

Louise stiffened at that and prepared to defend her honor but she was interrupted by a sudden feeling; a primal, instinctive feeling that was telling her to run and live or fight and die. She looked to the side, to where Aile was seated and saw her eyes filled with malicious killing intent directed at someone; made even more frightening by the fact that her right looked like the color of boiling blood while on the left was …

It was …

It … it couldn't be described for even black couldn't compare to it but all that she could say was that it seemed to be writhing and twitching. She looked away and closed her eyes, just staring at those things made her stomach queasy. A thud was heard in the distance and she opened her eyes to look at what it was; the boy was there on the floor writhing with the expression of pure unadulterated terror on his face, vomiting all the while but he couldn't take his eyes off of Aile's own. It was like he was being tortured and his mind was slowly being pushed off …

"Aile! Stop that please!" Louise screamed as she stood up and cradled Aile's face to her chest, preventing whatever spell if it was a spell that Aile had casted.

Aile blinked and she let the feeling that she had before subside and notice that she was right at the middle of Louise's bosom no matter how small it was.

Everyone breathed in deeply and slumped to their seats while the Professor leaned herself on to the table for support but remained upright with sweat on her brow.

Montmorency meanwhile stared at the ceiling with her cheeks flushed, her arms sagged to the side and her self control on the brink of slipping, and she very nearly wet herself there.

Kirche leaned on her table drawing out short breaths, quite frightened beyond belief, '_What –What was that?'_ She asked deep inside her mind. In all of her travels she had never felt this frightened in her entire life. It felt like someone had burned her clothes, tied her to a pole and used her as a target practice.

Tabitha was the only one of the students who had managed to stand up on the initial assault but now she leaned on her wooden staff for support. Her hands and legs were trembling from the assault on her senses even when it was accidentally. She had felt this attack before in her missions but it was never this strong nor as frightening and yet this girl could send a wave of such magnitude that had left even her reeling. She, she had underestimated Aile greatly and if Aile was set loose … no, she shouldn't think about something as that.

'_It – It worked!_' Phantom exclaimed deep inside Aile's soul. Surprise could be heard from her voice since she thought that it wouldn't work in under any circumstances and especially not to a human. Shame filled her for she was forced to use such a thing against a human. She wanted to whimper at what she had done but she forced herself in silence and held her head high for what was done was done and she would not allow herself any weakness when facing judgment.

Professor Chevreuse took a few deep breaths to calm herself before giving out an order, "Mind if a few of you carry Mr. Styx to the infirmary? I will let you have homeroom for the rest of my class for today and as for you young lady," She pointed at Aile, "When the classes are over head straight to the headmaster's office." Those were her words before she disappeared behind the door, holding her head all the while.

Aile then removed her face from Louise's chest, her left eye had miraculously returned to normal while her expression a bit on the side of curiosity while her gaze slowly drifted around, watching the reactions of the students around her. Most had the expressions of fear on their faces while some had curiosity on them. She turned her voice inward and roared making the inhabitants of her mind flinch for they knew that she simply didn't raise her voice for no reason. '_Phantom, what did you do? And how did you do that?_

'_Well Aile, I actually didn't know that it would work,_' Phantom explained slowly, '_As a matter of fact it really shouldn't work since I am no longer in possession of my own body._'

A familiar voice then decided to make herself known, '_Hmm… Isn't that your mind scrambler?_'

'_Yes, Harpuia it was._' Zero answered surprise evident in her voice. '_I was actually the last person that she had used that technique, and that was way back during Neo Arcadia, but man! That technique scrambled my senses utterly, making me a bit more slugging when facing Copy X._'

"Aile," A voice from the outside silenced them from their discussion and met Louise's gaze, "I know that you wanted to defend me but I think that was a bit too …" She stopped for a moment, clearly choosing the words to say, "Much."

Aile nodded at that but she knew that those were only the icing on a cake, "I believe the word that you are hesitating to say was 'harsh'." Louise didn't speak and it took a moment for her to nod her head. "I hadn't been completely honest with you lately; perhaps I will tell you my full story later." And with that out of her mind she retook her seat in silence.

The time passed by slowly. And in that time, the students grouped amongst themselves to chat and to compare notes. Two of the students carried the unconscious Styx away using both their strengths and their magic. Aile was fascinated about the way the body floated with no support whatsoever but was a bit disappointed to find out that there was no magic that could make any of them teleport. What she had used back home wasn't teleport per say but it was still near instantaneous since it worked by turning her into her molecular components inside a finely tuned force field of both the cyberspace and the electromagnetic variant, both fields were used to ensure that her molecules and the electric pulses of her brain wouldn't scatter everywhere. Such an event would likely kill her if it were to occur. Back in the past, it was said that only reploids and mechanoloids could be safely teleported due to the safeties of their core processors and their hard disks but unfortunately, humans had no such things in their bodies thus a teleport back in the days of the maverick wars would kill them outright or send them into a deep catatonia due to the sudden loss of the brain's electrical pulses, the same could be said to all the living things back then. Suffice to say, Aile considered herself lucky in that she was born at the age to where man and machine had became one saving her in the process whenever she was on the brink of exhaustion while at the same time being one of the rescuers whenever she arrived at the scene. Then again, being lucky to live at a futuristic world didn't mean anything when you got sent to another world that didn't have any sort of technology.

Oh~! The Irony!

She removed herself from her daydream and looked at Louise who had her eyes closed and resting her head on the table. She needed it to steady herself and recover from the shock.

Aile smiled, the little girl must have been very tired to take a nap during daytime.

**=The Force of Nature=**

She wanted to cry but the tears could no longer flow from her reddened, tired eyes. She knew that it was unreasonable for her to lock herself away in the room that the commander had assigned for her but she couldn't help it, the pain was there throbbing despite the beating of her heart. For two days she stayed here, contemplating her loss of both herself and her friend. Eclairè, she… she was killed brutally right in front of her eyes and she just stood there allowing the pseudoroid to tear the reploid apart instead of acting to save her. It was her fault that her friend died and after that she… she. She sat up on her bed and stared at her trembling hands. She had lost control of herself, her emotions, she let her anger get away. She allowed it to take over her, over her functions, but that wasn't the worst of it; the worst was that she loved the feeling at the time, enjoying the thrill of killing that thing with her bare hands.

The concept of what she had done back there was vengeance. Vengeance for a comrade that she was slowly getting to know about but was abruptly cut short due to her sudden death.

The door opened with a hiss and from it Aile could make out the figure of a blonde woman that deceivingly looked like in her early twenties, standing tall and proud, and moving with an air of grace. Taking her deep breath, the woman walked straight to her and said in a comforting tone like a mother o her child. "Aile, you had locked yourself here in this place for two days not even trying to walk outside to eat. Is there something that you would wish to share?"

Aile didn't answer the woman's question but she went to the side of her bed and leaned her body to the commander of the guardians, the great figure that had stood from countless wars and won. She didn't want to answer but her body language was enough to convey her feelings of loss. She was trembling; Aile knew that she was trembling. It wasn't as worse as when she accidentally killed Giro from the wound that she had inflicted upon him for he gave a request for her to live in his stead thus the pain that she had had lessened.

But Eclairè's death was different; it felt like being hit with a solid chunk of raw steel heading for her at incredible speeds. Despite her effectiveness and level headed mind during the times of war, she was still a child at heart, thinking mostly of everything as a game so she could cope with it, but the concept was shattered when one of her comrades in arms who had more than once had lent her hand during battle was killed while she just watched helplessly.

Yes, all that Aile needed right now was comfort.

But it seemed that it had to wait …

A melodious tone was heard but the news that it brought was the opposite of what she needed to hear. "Commander, we picked up a large energy signature coming from Area H, the energy signature detected appears to be fluctuating at different intervals mimicking Model P's Cloaking Field."

Prairie gently patted Aile in the back before she stood up and placed a hand to the side of her metallic ear and spoke, "Understood, I'm coming on the bridge to inspect the findings."

"Aye, aye." And with that the connection was cut off.

Something nagged at Aile's memory, Area H sounded familiar somehow. She focused on that memory as Prairie looked longingly at Aile one last time before heading outside. A vision flashed in Aile's mind and she focused on that particular memory and like a moving picture she saw balloons, people, a large wheel filled with helmeted heads and a miniature contraption that made a chugging sound as it moved.

A bolt of realization erupted on her mind as she hastily stood up but her feet got tangled in the sheets and abruptly made her fell to the floor with a meaty thud. But she ignored the pain, she ignored it for her enemy was there, at the place to which it all ended and began anew to her. She abruptly stood up and deep inside herself she called forth two of the heroes in her mind; the first, the one who had chosen her, and the second, the one who had allied with her. She won't be on the defensive this time for she would be at the tip of the spear. Her armor assembled around her, dissolving her nightgown in the process and replacing it with the armor of the ancient protector of mankind, whose name was synonymous with power and the hot blooded nature of the flames and like a rampaging dragon she surged forward intending to take this mission and take down the enemy who would try to soil the place of their death.

**=The Force of Nature=**

"Louise … Louise … wake up." Said a voice in a near whisper.

Louise moaned and opened her left eye, staring directly into Aile's own orbs. She sat back up and rubbed them before gazing at the professor infront of her, '_Oh, that's right, we're still in class._' Were her thoughts as she removed the sleep from her eyes. Luckily, the class had just started and it seemed that the balding professor was pleased to see that Aile was up and well.

The man known as Professor Colbert relaxed back into his chair, a bit contented about something. Murmurs started circulating around the room that the professor would show them something that he had invented previously and but had somehow forgotten to test it out first. A few of the students had started to loosen their cloak in an event that if something disastrous had happened, well, not as disastrous as the Zero's explosions since there's absolutely nothing that could stop it, they would cover themselves with their cloak as a precaution. Sure that the cloak wouldn't stand against powerful explosions but it was enough to shield themselves from the debris that would eventually come.

"Students, can you give me examples of how would you use the elements?" Professor Colbert asked as he patted the floating contraption by his side, directing it lightly to land at the teacher's table.

Aile thought about what the professor had asked his students. She hadn't seen much of this magic apart from her battle against Guiche's golems yesterday and the usual floating spell that the students and professors seemed to be fond of, using it almost constantly. She looked at most of the students a bit disdainfully, '_Didn't their parents ever told them that if they didn't exercise their bodies would grow weaker?_'She didn't expect an answer but someone did.

'_Apparently, they didn't._' Harpuia replied, '_And I think they aren't even eating right._'

'_I second that,_' Leviathan threw her cents in, '_Do any of you remember what they fed us yesterday and earlier this morning? It is mostly meat with almost no vegetables!_'

'_And who are you to complain?_' Asked Fefnir suspiciously. '_Back in Neo Arcadia you used to practically inhale the food if Phantom wasn't with you._'

Aile winced when she felt a throbbing migraine that suddenly appeared when Leviathan smacked her quite mindless sister. '_Ow! Guys stop that!_'

Leviathan groaned in frustration, '_Sometimes, I wonder how you were once part of Master X._'

Fefnir growled, '_If that's the case then I could ask the same since you're the only female._'

Instead of being mad, Leviathan simply giggled like she already won their bickering, '_I was once the only female, in case you forgot, aren't you a girl too?_'

Fefnir roared, '_Of course NOT! I'm a … I'm …_' She fell silent after that, no doubt sulking somewhere inside Aile's mind. Her turning into a girl is still a sensitive topic for her.

'_Rule number One, newbies should never talk back to their more experienced elders._' With that said, Leviathan cackled madly.

Louise stood up from her seat, unknowingly snapping Aile back to reality and said, "Tilling the fields." She sat back down as silence came for a second before everyone gazed expectantly at Aile.

Aile raised an eyebrow questioningly at that, "Did I do something wrong?"

Some wanted to groan and wail about what she had done awhile earlier at the previous subject but they kept it all in, they really didn't want her to do that ever again.

Louise whispered to her while covering her mouth from the teacher's view, "Aile, Professor Colbert wanted an example on the usage of the elements."

Aile thought for a moment. The elements that she knew of were from the periodic table and she knew a lot of examples of it but doubted that that was what the professor wanted so instead she answered with, "Sorry, I wasn't listening." '_Then again, why did I have to answer? I was only sitting in.'_

A few wanted to voice themselves out but knew better than to incite her wrath like what she did with Styx after the boy had managed to anger her. But Professor Colbert knew none of that. Or was he? "That's fine, please continue…" He gestured to the brunette with a large ribbon on her hair at the next table and she answered in kind. He smiled appreciatively as he let the examples flow from the students until it reached at the very end of the line.

When it ended he began to voice out the speech that he had prepared earlier, "True that those answers are correct; however the answers that each of you gave required the direct usage of magic or atleast a mage in particular."

Aile raised her hand and the professor gave a nod, "Yes?"

"Wasn't Louise's answer could be done without magic?" Yes, it was true that it could be done since her world didn't have magic to till the land and sow the crops; instead, however, they had mechanoloids that did the necessary hard labor.

"It is possible," Professor Colbert answered instantly, perking up at the seemingly innocent question, "However, it takes time and sometimes months before the farmers are able to plant the crops."

Aile placed the knuckle of her right hand to her mouth and unknowingly making her bangs hid her eyes and one of which sparkled more into a brighter shade of green than usual; obviously, she was contemplating something before speaking out, "If that's true, then why hadn't anyone who didn't have magic tried to invent something that could help, especially if there aren't any mages around?"

'_What are you up to X?_' Asked Zero though she felt that she already knew the answer.

'_A simple logical experiment._'

The Professor chuckled at that, "Actually they did, but they usually don't last because mages tend to make everything simpler and faster."

Satisfied at the answer that she got, Aile sat down, but inside her mind her biomatch could only groan. No wonder the technology had stagnated at this world; mages are too useful that the people had become satisfied with it.

'_They do not know anything better._' X wailed at the blunder of mankind that this world had produced. '_They are content to this way of life. Stunted by tradition and fear the uncertain._'

'_I wonder how long this had continued._' Zero voiced herself, '_If this keeps up they would be in some serious danger in the future._'

'_It is our destiny to protect mankind._' Harpuia added, '_Either from mavericks or themselves. We must teach them to invent and improve._'

'_I concur._' Phantom replied.

"And speaking about inventions," Began Professor Colbert as he removed the cloak that was hiding his contraption.

Everyone except the two girls, one of which could blow things up and the newcomer who seemed ignorant of what was coming, flinched at that. In their minds they could see it now, the mad cackling laughter of an insane professor and his exploding contraption. Shivering in their thoughts they began preparing themselves for what was about to happen.

Aile leaned closer. The apparatus infront of her and the others was made of both metal and wood and to one side was something that looked like a trap door and on the opposite seemed to be an entrance to something.

The Professor hummed to himself happily, seemingly unaware of the apparent horror of his students. He flicked his wrist and a small flame appeared at the tip of his index finger. The students tensed, readying themselves for the oncoming debris. He placed the tiny flame to the entrance and the dark hole seemed to suck it in. at first nothing happened then slowly the contraption whined to life eliciting startled gasps from the students as it sounded like a beast howling in pain promising a clear retribution for being brought into the world in a broken, artificial body. Taking this as their cue everyone crouched and placed his or her cloak over himself or herself, well all except for three girls, Louise, since she knew that the explosion isn't as destructive as hers despite the fact that she wouldn't admit it, Tabitha, for she could conjure a wall of ice, and finally, Aile, because she didn't know.

The whine and the grinding of gears from the machine at the teacher's desk were the only sounds that permeated the air, and for a moment nobody moved; quite sure that the contraption would explode at any moment. But it never came, fortunately for all of them but unfortunately for their expectations. One by one, they peeked from their cloaks quite puzzled that it never came and was greeted with the sight of the aforementioned example showing a snake leaving and returning back into its box.

"What **IS** that thing?" Guiche finally asked, muttering the very thought that most of the students had in their minds.

"Oh this." The Professor asked and for some reason he tried to sound innocent. "This is what I would call-" But he was interrupted by a calm female voice.

"It's an engine." Said Aile when she finally got a closer look. "A primitive steam engine but an engine none the less."

Professor Colbert was taken aback by that statement. This girl knew what it was and called it primitive, well … ok, it did looked ancient but atleast he did have a different name for it but the fact still remained. "An engine?"

"Yes Professor," Aile replied before explaining, "An engine is something that converts a form of energy into another. What you had right there Professor Colbert is a steam engine that uses the heat of the flames to excite the water within to form into steam and since steam had a lot more volume than water the pressure that it produced was used to drive the pistons for the gears which in turn moves the snake." She took a deep breath after that before summarizing what she had said, "All in all, the steam engine converts the heat energy into mechanical energy."

The Professor could only gape at her but then he recovered his wits and asked a too important question, "Had you seen anything like this before?"

Aile nodded, "I had seen advanced versions of those. I had seen engines that can move things that are as big as this entire school." She thought for a while, pondering her next words before nodding to herself. "I also have a few advanced and miniaturized versions of those inside me." She then sat down.

"Wh-what?" Louise stuttered, "You have those – those things inside of you?" She asked, unable to stop herself from repeating the words that Aile had said. She just couldn't accept that that abominable thing right in front of her was inside this girl.

"Not those per say but rather an advanced but different sort of engines." Aile clarified which in and of itself was the truth. When she ate, some of the energy that the chemical reaction in her stomach produced got sucked up by the Liquefied Energy Crystals in her blood which was transmitted to her tiny energy converter which in turn powered her cybernetics. All things considered, what her body does was convert chemical energy to electrical.

'_Didn't we use my turbines yesterday?_' Asked Leviathan.

'_Good point._' Aile replied before resuming and using that as an example, "And yesterday, I used two of those to escape Montmorency's watery prison."

Those that had seen the duel yesterday stopped whatever thoughts that they had right there and allowed their minds to wander to the time that she glowed before she appeared with that armor. They thought hard right there but they couldn't remember her using something that even looked vaguely like the one that Professor Colbert had right in front of them.

But Professor Colbert had a different mindset than his students, for one he thought of what Aile had said specifically the 'watery prison'. "Why? What happened yesterday?" This question was enough to halt the student's train of thought and shook them out of their reverie. He looked around and noticed two of his students namely, Montmorency and Guiche tried to force themselves from meeting his gaze.

Not knowing of the consequences, Aile answered truthfully, "There was a duel yesterday."

Montmorency and Guiche looked at her in sheer horror.

Not a moment too soon she got an immediate reply, "What?" Professor Colbert slammed his staff forcefully to the ground and the tiny flame on his contraption suddenly erupted to life as if invigorated by his ire.

The students flinched at that. They knew that Professor Colbert was mostly easy-going and that he wouldn't hurt anyone out of anger but there was still something that made them nervous whenever he would spoke like this as if the air itself wanted to make them uncomfortable. Beads of sweat appeared on their brows while some like Montmorency felt themselves being boiled alive.

He scanned the room again and noticed that there are only two people that seemed to be rather agitated than the rest. He got the two as the perpetrators correctly but the execution of it was wrong thus the answer that he got was also wrong. "Guiche, Montmorency, did the two of you participated in the duel?"

Guiche felt like wetting himself but he still managed to hold it down and collect his thoughts, "Yes," Was his near silent reply.

His stare then turned to Montmorency.

Montmorency didn't fare any better. As a matter of fact she looked like she was being dried under the sun like a grape slowly turning into a raisin. She wanted to reply, she really did but her throat was too dry so instead she used the alternative method; she nodded her head in confirmation.

The prickly heat dissipated but Aile could only blink at that. All around her the students seemed to be hyperventilating. '_That's strange,_' She thought, '_It wasn't that hot, it was more like a summer breeze_."

'_For you it was just warm but for me it felt like I was being cooked_.' Stated Leviathan.

'_I wouldn't even call that hot. As a matter of fact, I hadn't felt it at all!_' Fefnir said.

'_Wow! The humans on this place must really be something._' Exclaimed Zero, her surprise was evident in her voice. '_I mean to project something even as weak as that must account to something_.'

The Professor sighed at this. '_Another lover's quarrel?_' "Mind telling me why you two had to duel each other? Was Guiche trying to cheat again?" It was well known that Guiche and Montmorency's relationship was an open secret.

The two others could only gape at that, Aile started all of this mess and yet somehow with just a few words, she managed to point the blame to the two of them while at the same time keeping herself away as an innocent rescuer.

'_That clever little Minx!_' Kirche thought, quite surprised and intrigued by the girl's ability to maneuver herself away from the equation itself while at the same time giving off a very plausible explanation for the happening yesterday.

Fortunately for the two, it was short lived for Aile was a girl who never lied; well, not really anyway. "No, it wasn't them against each other, sir," She clarified, "It was the two of them against me at the same time."

But then again, the truth only led them to an even bigger trouble.

'_Oooh~! Sneaky~!_' Kirche was nearly giggling. A lie was to lessen the damage done to one self, but the truth on this matter made Aile more sympathetic instead of hurt by it. After all, a kind hearted person would side with the more disadvantaged one especially one who wasn't a mage even more so if that person itself was against two mages and injured at that. '_She's not a minx, she's a Fox!_' Foxes, despite having no magical talent are still hard to catch and even the dragons themselves are finding it hard to take one down.

"WHAT!" Professor Colbert nearly growled while at the same time the two wanted to shrink into themselves, "After this class is over the three of you are to head to the headmaster's office and we'll talk about what happened yesterday."

All three of them could only nod their heads before sitting down.

"Now that we had that out of the way, let's continue on with our discussion about this engine that Aile had called." Professor Colbert stated, quite glad that they are back on track, "And like what Aile said, it can-. "

It can explode! Well, that wasn't what the Professor was about to say but that doesn't stop it from exploding.

_**BOOM!**_

One thing that anyone should understand about boilers was that boilers had limits especially when pressure was involved and the contraption was of no exception.

Everyone quickly ducked behind their cloaks as the self preservation instinct finally kicked in. Aile meanwhile had opted to grab Louise before turning her back to the contraption and allowing her body to be the protective wall that shielded her summoner. Luckily, the explosion was weak and only showered them with tiny droplets of water that the girl, Tabitha if Aile recalled correctly her name, had cooled down the heated water with her barrier of air.

When everything was in order once again, Professor Colbert lifted himself from the ground and slowly peeked at the remains of his exploded contraption. He sighed, there was almost nothing left but metal fragments as all the wood was blown away.

Aile felt the cold moisture on her back. Luckily, it wasn't too damp for her to change clothes and with an exasperated sigh, she addressed Professor Colbert with, "Professor, please don't over heat a steam engine." Good thing that the engine itself was relatively tiny and the explosion itself wasn't dangerous, "If you overheat a steam engine the pressure inside would reach a critical point until it can no longer hold it in which would end up in an explosion."

Speechless on what had happened, the Professor could only mutter a reply, "I'll keep that in mind."

**=The Force of Nature=**

Aile couldn't help it but sigh as she stared at the large imposing doors to the headmaster's office. Accompanying her there were Louise, Montmorency, and Guiche. The three of them had been told to come to the headmaster's office while Louise was forced to go along for the ride mostly because she was Aile's summoner and thus had an obligation to be there for her.

"Well, shall we?" Guiche asked the rhetorical question without an answer.

Aile pushed the doors aside and they all flooded in while at the same time a grumpy man with a very weird mustache stormed out, furious beyond reason as he barreled through the four students.

'_How rude!' _Leviathan growled,'_Didn't his parents ever taught him manners?_'

'_I'd like to answer that with a no_.' Grumbled Fefnir.

A light grumbling entered their ears as they went inside. Staring ahead, they saw the headmaster, Old Osmond, muttering to himself about some person named Mott and that that person should have thanked him from a dark future at the hands of that maid. Another rant started, stating that political moves would never work on him especially when it was just about employment issues.

The four of them just stood there blinking, the headmaster didn't seem to notice them as he continued to rage. Maybe he did notice them but had chosen to ignore them while his back was turned. On another note they were wondering just which maid he was talking about.

The door opened again and Madam Chevreuse entered, still clutching her head. She raised her eyes just a little and notice that the students had gathered right there behind the furious headmaster. Her eyes unconsciously made contact with Aile's own orbs and she shivered at the sight. Normally, she gazed at her student's eyes without a hint of fear but this girl was different. Her brightly mismatched eyes unnerved her in their peculiarity since she hadn't seen anyone until her that had eyes like that. Slowly, she calmed herself down before addressing the headmaster, "Old Osmond may we interrupt you for a bit?"

For some strange reason the headmaster did stop his tirade or maybe because the four teenagers didn't even try to bother calling his attention. He turned around silently, whiffed a puff of smoke, and then sat down on his chair. "All right, why are these four students here?" He asked with calmness in his voice that the four of them were wondering if he was faking his tirade earlier or the calm one that he was using now.

Madam Chevreuse found herself confused by that statement but decided to finish what she was talking about, "I do not know why the Misses Montmorency, Vallière, and Mr. de Gramont are here. But I do know that this student of yours," She gestured at Aile who only blinked at her words, "Had used a strange mind altering spell that almost drove Mr. Styx to the brink of insanity and giving the other students as well as mtsef indirect harm." Without a sound, she turned her gaze back to the headmaster and stated the next lines that would drove a normal student to the state of panic. "Headmaster Old Osmond, I would suggest expelling this girl from bringing with her such harm to her fellow students."

The headmaster looked at the girl directly in the eyes but for some reason he didn't sense anything from her. Wait, he did sense something but why was she amused by this whole fiasco? Shouldn't she be panicking right now? Wait, had he met this girl before? If so what was the color of her panties at the time she had enrolled? He raked his brain for a split second but came out with nothing and thus concluded that this girl must be an outsider. "Girl, tell me, what is your name?"

The girl bowed politely, unknowingly hiding her mismatched eyes behind her bangs and when she raised her head …

Madam Chevreuse unconsciously shuddered; she hadn't seen anyone that could change their eye color.

The headmaster raised an eyebrow at that, '_Wasn't her left eye green a second ago? Or do I need to go into retirement?_'

A smirk found its way to Aile's lips and replied with, "I am Aile, headmaster. You may try to expel me but I really doubted that that would work."

Madam Chevreuse flinched t that. It was one thing to show hostility albeit it was not directed at her, and another to show open arrogance at her words like it was nothing to her. "How dare you talk like that!"

"Eh? Eh?" Louise was at a loss for words. On one side she wanted to side with Aile on this since what Aile had done was also her responsibility for she was the one who had summoned her, on another she wanted to side with the Professors due to the way that she talked right now. But then again the thought of expelling her might be a little too harsh.

"Now, now, Madam Chevreuse, no need to get so worked up." Said the headmaster in a lighter tone before he gazed back at the girl who was in need of punishment. "With that reply, I take it that you are not a student here, am I correct?"

Aile's smirk was still on her lips before she lifted her arms and crossed it below her breasts, uplifting them unknowingly. "You are right headmaster, I am not a student here but unfortunately, you cannot make me leave."

The headmaster analyzed her words carefully and sensed no hostility upon it, just amusement. On a side note, he was slowly getting distracted by the girl's chest, which, suffice to say, was quite large for her height since she was as tall as Louise. "What do you mean? Being the headmaster, I have the authority to banish you from this place especially if you are threatening my students."

"Ohh~! But that's the point Professor~!" She said in a very, very sultry voice before reverting back to her normal tone. "I am not the one who had threatened him. As a matter of fact, he wanted to rile up Louise and embarrass her. I just did what I had to do to make sure that he will never do something like that again to me or to Louise."

"But that still doesn't answer the question as to why you are here or rather how you got here," Asked Madam Chevreuse with a bit more emphasis due to the scowl on her face. "And for that matter why are you dressed as a student?"

That knowing smirk never left her face as she replied, "As to why am I here, I do not know the answer myself; as for how I got here, Louise had summoned me; as for me wearing the school uniform, well … I do not have anything to wear yet so Louise allowed me to wear these."

'_Groan, well … that's Zero for you._' X said, '_He's so frank when needed that it hurts._'

'_Literally_,' Added Harpuia.

'_May I please have my body now, Zero?_' Aile asked, sure she could wrestle it against the biometals but unfortunately such methods actually harmed them. '_The way that I see it, you're making it worse._'

The two Professors turned to Louise who immediately stiffened at the spot.

"Summoned?" Old Osmond asked before a sudden realization finally made its way to his brain. "Ah! A few days ago Professor Colbert told me about how you had summoned a human familiar." He stared down at Aile and smiled behind that large beard of his, "I never thought that the summoned one to be this young."

"Summoned?" Madam Chevruse was flabbergasted; in all of history there was never a human that was summoned as a familiar before. "This child was summoned, as a familiar? That's preposterous!"

Infront of them Aile looked like she's rolling her eyes. '_I'm quite sure we'll get that reaction a lot._' Zero said inside before an idea struck her and glee reentered her face. "Professor, another reason as to why I did that to the student was because he was looking down under Louise's skirt and mine, and was quite amused when we tried to hide it." Another thought came to mind and it took her a second to contemplate before deciding to voice it, "Professor, why are the seats arranged like that while at the same time the skits seemed to be too short for modesty?"

It took a moment for everyone to process the information that she had said and all of them gazed hard at the headmaster with varying expressions of anger, disappointment, revelation, and as strange as it may sound, respect.

Right outside, the secretary, Miss Longueville twitched in burning anger. How dare he to add the students in his voyeurism. After their discussion she would make sure to punish him severely.

"W-Well, as I was saying …" He tried changing the subject, "Preposterous or not, it had happened and Professor Colbert was there overseeing the summoning." Old Osmond stared at Aile for a second before finally making a conclusion with what Madam Chevruse had told him and Aile's story as to why she did such a thing. "And I believe that this girl here had only done such a thing to defend herself and Miss Vallière's er … dignity." That was close! He almost said chastity which he was certain would raise alarm bells. Not for them though but rather for him since he was sure that Miss Longueville would no doubt enter this room and punish him.

Possibly a kick between his legs.

Guiche and Montmorency looked at one another, blinking; they too had that same thought a few days ago. And as it was it became the reason for her to wear stockings.

The door creaked open and from it another professor emerged.

Professor Colbert was looking down at his notes before he stopped to look up at the four students and the other two professors who also stared silently at him. Confused, all he could ask was, "Did I miss something?"

"No, don't worry, you didn't." Old Osmond then faced Madam Chevruse, fully knowing that she still had other classes to attend to, "Professor Chevruse, I believe that you still had afternoon classes that you must attend to." He paused for a bit but not too long," We mustn't leave the students alone for too long now."

Madam Chevruse stuttered for a bit before composing herself infront of the headmaster and bowed slightly in respect before heading to her students fully knowing that she had lost.

After Madam Chevruse left, Old Osmond eyes turned to the balding professor who was slowly tucking his notes away. "Professor Colbert, do you have any complaints against Miss Vallière and her familiar?

Professor Colbert laughed sheepishly as he placed his hand behind his head. Clearly, he knew that something must have happened for Madam Chevruse to leave the headmaster's room abruptly like that. He was curious on what had happened but he knew that it was no business of his and thus it wasn't his right to pry into the troubles of others so instead he went straight to the reason of why he was here. "Well … Old Osmond, I don't really have any complaints, just a warning since these three children; Miss Aile, Miss Montmorency, and Sir Guiche had a two versus one battle yesterday with Miss Montmorency and Sir Guiche teaming up against Miss Aile who didn't have magic. But first, mind explaining yourselves the reason as to why the three of you did such a forbidden act?"

"What? A battle with two mages against a single commoner?" Old Osmond stood to his full height, assessing his authority against the two students. "There are strict rules by the government that didn't allow any duels or battles with mages against one another, let alone against a commoner. If this is heard outside the academy grounds the two of you along with Miss Aile will certainly go to prison. I am allowing you three off the hook from that kind of fate but that doesn't mean that I won't give punishment." He glared at the three, and noted how much Miss Montmorency and Sir Guiche shook but was quite disappointed when Miss Aile just tiled her head in mock curiosity. He coughed a bit before deciding to return back to topic. "As Professor Colbert was saying, please explain as to why you three did it?"

Guiche laughed nervously and tried to explain in detail what had happened prior to said battle, but he's doing an awful job at it. "W-Well professors, it was actually my fault as to, well …" He trailed off from there.

Montmorency decided to help but her input was not helping at all. "Y-Yes, it was Guiche's fault."

"Montmorency…"

"It wouldn't had happened if you weren't a womanizer." Added Louise.

"That hurts. Physically."

The two professors looked at each other before they both suppressed a sigh; fully understanding that this will take a while to solve.

'_Miss Aile, if you don't mind…_'

'_Phantom, what the hell? Don't push!_'

'…'

'_May I have it back after you're done? If this keeps up, I will have to forcefully take it back and you guys know how disorienting that is._'

"Guiche, Montmorency, mind if I do the explaining instead?" Aile politely asked while her left eye was as dark as night. The grin was gone and was replaced with a deep scowl and her provocative posture dissolve into an alert rigid stance with her hands behind her back. Earning their nods, she then turned her head toward the professors. "Sirs, it all started about four days ago when Guiche gave Siesta a rose bouquet before leaving, and he had unfortunately forgotten that he had placed Montmorency's perfume in there. A perfume that he was supposed to give to a merchant so said merchant can make more of it."

The two professors thought for a moment. It was true that one could replicate almost anything as long as the replicator knew enough alchemy and was proficient in transmutation.

Aile continued her explanation, "Now, flash forward to yesterday," Old Osmond blinked at that, this girl used a lot of strange words to express herself, "Siesta used the perfume to which Montmorency recognized easily making her think that the maid was the thief who stole it. I intervened right in the middle of it especially when Montmorency was starting to get abusive. It was right then that Montmorency challenged me for defending the maid and forced Guiche to team up with her. All in all sirs, it was just a misunderstanding gone horribly bad but I had managed to quell it in a more." She paused for a bit, contemplating her next words. "Civilized manner after the brawl ofcourse."

Old Osmond fell silent for a while as he gazed into those mismatched orbs with clarity that only an old wizened man could give. Looking into those eyes, he could sense a battle hardened veteran of war but at the same time it radiated of innocence and longing like a stray kitten that had seen hardship and fought for her own while at the same time wishing for someone to be with so she could love and be loved in return. He closed his eyes fully knowing that this child wouldn't lie to him but knew that she purposefully hid something, "I see, but I believed you had left something out." He pointed at Aile's hand and said, "While I believe that what you had said is true, you had left out that you were still injured while you fought correct?"

The three students visibly flinched at that.

To Aile's credit she didn't flinch but she answered truthfully nonetheless, "Yes Professor." She replied as she gazed into those faded blue eyes once they opened. Those eyes, Phantom noted, knew of the mastery over their arts and skills that could probably rival her own. He maybe a senile old man but he had some tricks up his sleeves.

"I am quite disappointed in you three." Old Osmond said earning a raised eyebrow from Aile. "Guiche, Montmorency, haven't you two been taught not to use magic to harm commoners? In that since we can use magic we must help and protect the ones who didn't have such power as ours and in turn they would serve us? But what you just did is an act against the teachings of the founder himself in that you didn't listen to reason and decided to solve the problem by lashing out instead of thinking it thoroughly." He sighed and walked back to his chair before sitting in it and continuing, "What would the two of you do if you accidentally killed her? True that she became a familiar despite being a commoner but that doesn't mean that it is fine to throw a human's life away no matter how lowly she had become."

Aile forced herself to stay neutral but inside she was brimming in anger at being looked down like a slave. Phantom agreed to that sentiment and her incredible willpower was the only thing that was preventing her from retorting to protect her mistress Aile's pride. At the side X tried to calm them all down saying that the old man was only trying to protect Aile and teaching the two students a lesson.

Guiche was silent, he knew that it was his fault but at the same time he was quite calm for he didn't wish to harm Aile but rather only wished to end the fight. Still, he took the verbal beating with his head held high.

Montmorency herself was a different matter for it was taking all of her efforts to prevent herself from bursting into tears. No doubt regretting the words that she had uttered yesterday especially the death threats that she had directed at the injured girl even if she didn't meant any of those.

"As for you Miss Vallière," He stated again with a stern look at Louise, "You should have paid closer attention to what your familiar was doing and prevented her from having a battle against two mages. You should have swallowed your pride right then and there and apologized even if it wasn't your familiar's fault."

Louise stood frozen on the spot when she was singled out. It was true that it was partially her fault for not stopping Aile from getting involved and she was ready to swallow her pride just to ensure Aile's safety but her summon's words were so full of confidence that she couldn't even voice her protest. That and the tingly feeling that she always get whenever Aile was paying her devotion to her. A blush crept to her face and she looked down to hide it behind her hair. '_Where did that thought come from?_'

To the two professors she seemed to be contemplating her mistake.

'_Oh that's it! I'm going to give them a piece of my mind!_'

'…_!_'

'_Fefnir! What do you think you're doing?'_

'_I'm sorry Aile. But we'd have to merge.'_

The room suddenly warmed up surprising everyone with its intensity. All of them that was except for Aile and Louise. "Now wait just a darn minute!" Aile practically roared like the raging forest fire.

The two professors were suddenly surprised by this sudden change in behavior. A while ago she was quite playful, then she was quite calm and collected, and now she was unspeakably mad like a switch suddenly flicked inside her whenever a given situation arises. Not only that but also the color of her left eye seemed to be changing with her moods. First was a brilliant blue that sparkled with unending belief. The second was the color of the darkest night that one couldn't help but gaze to find even the slightest shimmer. The last was this, the color of the flames of war itself. Professor Colbert knew of this intimately, that reddish glow leaning close to orange, the color of Vermillion accentuating the Crimson color of blood on the right eye.

Aile's demeanor seemed to have shifted yet again, for before she stood rigid and at attention with her hands behind her back but now her back was arched with her hands to the side with open rigid palm as if getting ready to attack or counter-attack. "First of all, it wasn't Louise's fault that I stepped up to the challenge. Second, it was my own decision to fight, with Louise clearly against the idea thinking that this magic could harm me. Lastly, I couldn't just stand on the sidelines while Miss Montmorency here extracted punishment to a maid who didn't even deserve it. So don't you dare point the blame to Louise when she was the one who didn't want me to face the two of them."

Colbert eyes kept on blinking before it settled and allowed him to assess the situation. "But still you are Miss Vallière's familiar."

"And that's another thing." She said, her eyes locking to Professor Colbert's own. "I maybe this so called familiar that you people kept on pointing out but that didn't mean that I did not have a will of my own. So don't assume that I would be the same as the other animals that roam about in this school." She took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down from the raging fury that was empowering her. "I may be a bit different from any of you but that didn't mean that I'm not like you."

All five of them were standing still like statues made from granite. Here was a girl, who was summoned from somewhere, didn't have any background information what-so-ever, and yet had completely one-sided them in words, and without thinking it authority. It was like her words were absolute laws that no one could disagree with.

No one had noticed it behind the bandages but the runes on Aile's hand glowed with power.

Unable to resist, Old Osmond caved in. "All right, but if that's the case then I'll have to punish you instead of Louise along with Miss Montmorency and Sir Guiche for yesterday's actions." He looked over to Aile, watching her expression for any hints of surprise or disapproval but none was found.

"Tch, fine then." Aile all but voiced. She knew that this was coming but she didn't care as long as Louise wouldn't suffer from her actions. Satisfied that her words were heard, Fefnir allowed herself to receded back into Aile's mind allowing Aile to take control of her body again. To the others she looked like she finally calmed down allowing her body to relax as her cheeks heated up, flushed from her recent victory but in reality Aile was blushing in embarrassment at how the biometals are serious in their defense of both hers and Louise's safety. Still, that didn't mean that she liked the idea of them suddenly taking over her body. "I feel kind of dirty and used…" She murmured in near silence as she turned her head in embarrassment, unknowingly hiding her left eye from view as it turned to her original green coloration.

"Since it was just a misunderstanding and no one had been hurt. I believe a light one is enough." He then pointed outside, "Go to the Vestri Court and start trimming the grass."

A bright, beaming smile appeared on the two lovebirds at this.

"Without magic." Added Professor Colbert.

That smile suddenly got twisted into the most horrified expression for the two imaginable. Without magic it could take days or even weeks to trim it perfectly with just the three of them.

Aile just blinked. That punishment is extremely light. Lighter than Congre's mission of trimming the grass at the rooftops. '_Now that I think about it how did the grass got there in the first place? Not to mention that those are purely biological without mechanical implants._'

"They're pink." A tiny voice said, far too soft for anyone to hear but to Aile's enhanced hearing they were as clear as the tingling of a bell making her blink in surprise before gazing down to find out what it was. Her eyes fell to the small white rodent at Louise's feet that was staring at something above with enraptured eyes.

'_Pink? Now where had I seen that color before?_' Aile asked herself, momentarily forgetting about her surroundings.

Inside her mind, Phantom's scream reverberated within with such urgency that Aile had no time to think and followed the order to the letter. '_AILE, CLOSE YOUR LEGS NOW!_'

She did as she was told. She closed her legs and as an added measure, she placed her hands firmly on her skirt. Just in time too, preventing the little rodent from seeing paradise.

"Panties! Show them to me!" It squeaked.

"PANTIES! Wait a-" She stopped right there as a sudden vision entered her mind. After she and Louise wiped themselves dry, Louise wore a pair of pink underwear and she wore a set of baby blue in color. Now this is just crazy! A wee little mouse was checking on her underwear like a perverted old man ogling girls that were a lot younger than him by several decades.

"Wh-What!" Louise stuttered when she heard Aile's sudden declaration of a female's underwear. "Aile! What do you mean by that?" Typical of her, she half-screamed and half-demanded that her words should be heard by anyone and answered in kind about it.

"This little rat wanted to look at it!" Was her heated answer before a dawn of realization entered her brain. She looked down with a cold silent malevolence at the little rodent before she spoke with icy words that sent literal chills down everyone's spine as if winter itself greeted them early. "You saw Louise's underwear didn't you?"

It didn't help that her eye had taken on an icy blue hue.

Right outside, Miss Longueville heard everything and decided to act … against that old geezer.

Aile raised her right foot up so fast that it was almost a blur before crashing it down to the helpless mouse with a speed that almost rivaled lightning and squashed it into meaty, bloody chunks. It would have if it didn't moved fast enough to dodge it with millimeters to spare, for unknown to most of the people present; it had experience with this kind of violent reaction and it reacted in kind only to be frozen over by the sheer terror it felt when it saw the nearly centimeter thick dent that the foot had left on the wooden floor. Instinct flared up within and it moved just barely avoiding the second crash of the same foot to where it was before but due to fear it couldn't run away fast enough for fear itself was debilitating its movements from escaping to the clutches of its master.

Again and again Aile tried to stomp the little rat into oblivion but only managed to place dent after dent on the floor all around the room while at the same time the two professors were trying to restrain her telling her that the little mouse was Old Osmond's familiar Chu-chu but their words unfortunately fell into deaf ears.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Louise heard the explanation. It was quite hard to ignore it seeing that they are desperately shouting about it and it warmed her heart that Aile was protecting her chastity. '_That was so sweet of her._' She said to herself with a small shy smile and a blush before it was twisted to a frown as confusion entered her mind asking her where did that thought come from.

Guiche and Montmorency's minds went blank as they saw the one girl carnage infront of them and thus they couldn't help out in stopping the young girl. If they did help, well … they knew that they'll get squashed.

Aile had had enough of this play and decided for a different tactic. She pulled back her foot and kicked as hard as she can.

And the little mouse soared …

And fell deep into Miss Longueville's chest to which it decided to burry itself deeper to hide from the crazy girl's wrath.

Miss Longueville gave out a startled yelp before panic reared its ugly head and smiled at her.

Poor Miss Longueville, she couldn't do anything else but laugh and dance as she futilely tried to get the familiar of that very perverted headmaster off of her body which had, unfortunately, proved to be much harder than she had anticipated.

Little Chu-chu was in a panic mode right from the start, darting here and there as it tried to get away from the horrifying hands that wanted to crush it in their grips. Oh how it wished to have its master's help right now but unfortunately …

Old Osmond fainted with blood continuously gushing out of his nose at the latest batch of memories that he got from his loyal familiar. That last batch was so intense since his familiar was sending him a very detailed description of his beautiful secretary. The size of her bust; that slim waist; and those curvaceous hips that he so desperately wanted to touch, and now he knew all of it. And how could he forget that beautiful image of her breasts coming closer and closer as his familiar slowly fell to it. Sure that kick hurts like a ton of bricks but it was well worth it as his familiar fell and touched that heaven.

The two lovers wanted to help but unfortunately it would mean touching the woman in an indecent manner.

Louise just stared, disbelief etched across her features.

Aile just stood there, unable to do anything but gape as this woman continued to dance.

Professor Colbert meanwhile had done none of the above and instead went to Miss Longueville's aid but he still hampered himself from touching inappropriate body parts.

Miss Longueville began to cough; no doubt she was beginning to lose oxygen rapidly from her irregular breathing due to her forced laughter. And due to the lack of oxygen, her brain, the human body's processor and data storage began to lose track and thus errors and inconsistencies began to appear in her logic and reasoning side of her consciousness. In an attempt to end this suffering the sub consciousness ordered the ego but it was misinterpreted badly. The secretary began to tear at her clothes, the parts where the furry little rat was in the most embarrassing attempt to stop this horrible nightmare.

Guiche's eyes opened wide; nearly removing his eyes from their sockets as the instinctive part of his subconsciously tried to get a better view of the gorgeous secretary of their Headmaster.

Montmorency too was almost enthralled at that was happening infront of her. A part of herself, the small part of her being that descended from the Water Spirit was urging her to never take her eyes away but it didn't last for more than seven seconds before her human morality overrode the command, told her how indecent it was, and ordered her to shut her eyes from such a sinful sight. While this was going on another part of her gave her a priority command that overrode all of the others, and she obeyed it without question. She swung to the side, allowing her momentum to guide her right fist to land at Guiche's soft stomach with enough force to lift him off the ground for a few milliseconds. Her poor boyfriend nearly doubled over from pain and shock but before he could recover she closed his eyes with her hand and forced him to look at the opposite direction, nearly giving him a whiplash with tat gesture alone.

Meanwhile Aile blushed luminously in embarrassment at the display the secretary was showing as she tried to strip. True it was her fault when the mouse was launched into the air and landed on the poor secretary but that really didn't warrant any stripping, right? Oh wait, why did it suddenly gone dark?

"Aile! You're too young to see that!" Louise screamed embarrassedly as she placed her hands at the frozen girl's eyes preventing her from seeing anything more. An Idea appeared on her mind and decided to take the chance. "Professor! We'll start trimming the Vestri Court right away! Do we have permission to leave?"

She got her reply immediately. "Go!"

**=The Force of Nature=**

"Thank God we got out." Said an exasperated Louise.

"You shouldn't have dragged me like that. I can walk out of there too." AIle complained. She really didn't like the feeling of being dragged with someone's hands covering her eyes, it made her feel like she was being kidnapped or something.

"I agree with Aile over here." Said Guiche as he rubbed his sore neck, "What you did back there was really painful."

"I would have, Aile but it's not right for you to see such a thing." Louise replied with a tiny blush on her face as they all turned a corner, all of them headed to Vestri Court.

"Shut up, Guiche. It's not my fault that you're a womanizer." Montmorency deadpanned for an added effect.

"Montmorency…" Guiche wailed though he silently admitted that that was true. He was a womanizer just not the kind of womanizer that she was thinking but he knew better than to correct her for no one would believe him, thus, in a way, it was his own little secret and admittedly, fault.

"Hey! We're here!" Squealed Louise as she ran the few remaining distance before squinting her eyes to adjust them from the brightness of the day. She looked up; the skies were a bit clouded but not enough to cause rain thankfully, and most of the court was in the shades during this time of the day mercifully shielding them from the hot rays of the sun.

"So where should we start?" Aile asked scanning the entire yard. It wasn't that big thankfully but her enthusiasm wasn't reflected by the others around her for it never occurred to them to do things without magic.

"Anywhere under the shade of the tower and its walls." Replied Guiche while his hands sagged at his sides as his mind despaired at the amount that they'll have had to cover. "If you want we could start at the grass beneath our feet."

"In any case why are you sticking around with us, Louise?" Asked Montmorency; true, she was grateful if Louise would help out but if she started acting all high and mighty then she'll forcefully shove her away. For some reason that she couldn't fathom, it calmed her when she's close but not as intense as yesterday thankfully.

"I can't let my Aile work alone. I have to help her too." She said in her most straightforward manner but inside she screamed at herself at her poor choice of words and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the two lovebirds noticed her slip of the tongue.

'_My Aile?_' The two lovers asked mentally to themselves but didn't tried to voice it lest they receive a face full of Louise's explosive magic which in really short terms was a bad idea. They looked to where Aile was but they didn't saw her until they looked down to find that she's in all four with her left ear near the soil and with her right eye closed for the moment, concentrating on something that only she could see.

Ignoring Aile for now, Montmorency returned her focus at Louise, "I do not mind you helping out but it will take a while to finish this."

"Well, I am still allowed to cast magic here so don't worry, I'll try to use some wind spell." Was her reply and noticed that Aile stood back up.

"No!" Echoed Montmorency and Guiche voices; thankfully, they still held themselves back but the sheer panic was still there.

Aile tilted her head cutely to the side. She wanted to ask why they didn't want Louise to perform magic and the way that Louise had said it, it could be that the spell was a minor one and despite her lack of knowledge in that given area she doubted that Louise could make a hurricane by accident.

Louise looked hurt by that sudden denial of her help. "But-but why not?"

"Well, Louise, you don't need to worry we can manage it on our own." Reasoned Montmorency biting her lips to prevent herself from uttering: '_Well, you might end up making it worse._'

Guiche however was a bit blunter in his words. "We appreciate your help Louise but I'm afraid that you'll cause an explosion if you used your magic." Yes, very, very blunt like the face of a hammer and the grace of a farm animal.

Louise developed a tic on her right eye at young man's reply. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind right then and there but he had a point. She groaned as she felt her energy draining away, what they said was true of course but it still felt like a stab through her heart.

"Well, no use standing around here then." Aile voiced, "Do any of you know where they keep the gardening tools?" She looked straight to their eyes but they all shook their heads.

Louise caught something in her sights and beamed, "Hey~! Siesta~!" She beckoned and earned the maid's attention.

Siesta was humming to herself a tune that had been ingrained into her mind before a yell interrupted her thoughts. Looking to the side she saw four people and the one who called her was the strawberry blonde girl. Wondering what they could possibly want she hefted her large stack of clothes which, to the eyes of the nobles, would be quite impossible for them to carry a better grip before heading to the four teenagers.

As she went closer they noticed how large the pile of clothes really were and are now wondering how in the world did she managed to carry all of that without collapsing from the sheer weight of it. Louise meanwhile got right on to the point. "Do you know where the gardeners hid their equipment?"

Siesta nodded at this confirming that she knew where but she raised a question first, "Why? What are you going to use it for?" Her questions really did merit an answer for no one would catch a noble dead holding gardening tools.

Louise wasted no time telling her the reason. "Punishment."

Siesta tilted her head cutely to the side but she made it a bit surreal with that basket of clothes that she was carrying. Placing it down on the ground, it gave off a very earthy thud and a small tremor that could be felt for a few yards from its epicenter.

The three students were alarmed by this. Wondering to themselves how could a simple maid be so strong to be able to carry that many laundry let alone travel to and from the fountain. Aile, however, didn't notice the confusion in their eyes for she was used to this kind of thing.

"Punishment?" Siesta repeated, allowing her tongue to roll over the word before placing a finger to her chin in thought. "I hadn't heard anything that would warrant a punishment from the professors."

"It was the brawl yesterday." Aile clarified.

"Oh! I see." Was her reply but in those last two words her heart silently sang their emotion. Yesterday was the most terrible and yet the happiest day of her life. She was accused of a crime that she would never commit and then Aile came down to rescue her from the cruelties of a noble like the Princess on the stories that she loved to read, striking down her perverted suitor and rescuing her beloved maid from his clutches, and then at night the two would divulge in – '_STOP! Now's not the time to be indecent! Err… wait, wrong phrase! _' She quickly berated herself for losing her grasp on reality. Luckily, her face never showed anything of what she had fantasized otherwise it would be, well, awkward. The information finally entered her mind and her reasoning of the situation came out a bit worrying. "Oh dear! Am I also going to be punished?"

Montmorency shook her head, negatively replying to the maid's question. It was quite surprising to say the least for an upstart noble to answer the question of a plebian as if their difference in status no longer applied. Siesta took a momentary glance at Aile wondering if it was her who taught the girl humility. Or was there another reason entirely? "Due to what happened next back then to the headmaster's office. I doubt that they would remember that you were involved." In a way it was true since the headmaster was knocked out suddenly with a lot of blood streaming from his nose for no reason at all. Not to mention that Professor Colbert and the headmaster's assistant were, for the lack of a more decent term, busy.

"Anyway, do you know where we can get the tools? The sooner that we're done here the better." Guiche said in exasperation. He really, really wished that this would be over today despite the apparent impossibility.

"All right, just wait right here. I'll get them for you." Siesta replied as she raised the basket again giving shivers to the three nobles while Aile only looked curiously at the imprint on the ground that the basket had made. It reminded her a bit of **Thon** who lifted one of the Guardian Base's Engines with ease before tripping and leaving a large crack on the runway of one of their Auxiliary Bases. For a while back then she thought that that was an earthquake until some of the guardians joked about something that 'Tripping Thon' did.

**=The Force of Nature=**

"My arms are heavy." Guiche groaned, fatigue showing itself on his face but he barely covered an area of just a few feet.

"I'm – I'm about to collapse." Muttered Montmorency, also in the same boat as her boyfriend and unfortunately for her the sun was peeking along her shade and giving her its unnecessary warmth thus leaving her with half of herself in the direct face of the sun while the other half was cowering inside the cool embrace of the tower's shade. Being a water mage, it was an almost instinctive trait to hate anything too hot or uncomfortable but she forced herself to endure it nonetheless but doing so made her grumpy and irritable as hell.

Aile stopped on what she was doing to gaze at the two people that she had defeated yesterday and frowned at what she saw. "Oh, come on! You guys barely did anything." Contrary to what she was thinking, the two actually did all that they could do but Aile was just too dang fast and experienced with this kind of work. And with that experience she had covered nearly all of her work in a small expanse of time. It also helped that she was as enduring as a mountain and as patient as the night sky.

"At this pace it will take forever to finish." Said Louise as she kept on hacking the grass but she's not making much progress as the heavy gardening tool was distorting her aim. She allowed her mind to wander for a bit, it felt like the way when her wand was making explosions only less powerful and leaning to the continuous, heavy side.

"Now that's just ridiculous." Mouthed Aile as she looked at Louise's progress; needless to say, it was quite a disappointment since she barely got it done and in some places it was even worse with the grass torn away from the root revealing the brown patch of earth below. "Were you trying to dig something up Louise?"

Louise winced, it felt like her summon had insulted her without knowing herself.

Aile remembered something from one of Giro's various manga and decided to risk it. "Does this school even have a Physical Education?" She asked while allowing her mind to wander to those books. All this time she still blamed **Girouette** for corrupting her into liking the various books about girls liking girls and falling in love with girls way back when she still didn't know the difference between a boy and a girl. Granted, it was also her fault since she always snuck into his room just to read those interesting literature.

But the biggest shock of all was that Prairie was so happy that Aile liked them as much as her and Giro. A few days later she found out that it was Prairie who corrupted Giro but he told Aile that what he was reading was a lot mellower since according to him Prairiè loved everything that moved.

Whatever that meant anyway.

Louise looked at her and raised a question. "Physical Education? What's that?"

"You seriously do not have P.E.? I know that this is a magic school but that doesn't mean that you'll ignore your health." Replied Aile before she explained herself, now even more determined to do something about their unknown predicament, "Physical Education is the maintenance of the physical body through exercise or games that required body movement. Don't tell me that you guys never exercised."

"We don't need to. Like I had said before, we have magic. We don't need to physically strain ourselves." For Louise and the other nobles, what she had said was true since their society revolved around mages using only their magic while the commoners are the ones that are used for manual labor. They don't need to strain themselves due to the way their society revolved around from.

Aile was never the sarcastic type but this time she believed was an exception. "Riiight. Much like the way that my people had science." She stopped hacking the grass and stood up, allowing her lithe young body to stretch after sitting down in such an awkward position. "Louise, if you do not exercise and took care of your body's muscles your body will fail earlier than usual. Most of the debilitating diseases that I've read about were because of the lack of exercise on the patient's case."

"If we're talking about sickness or injury, I can heal those. Well, I can heal minor wounds right now but most of the advanced mages can heal major injuries that are otherwise fatal." Interjected Montmorency, a bit affronted that this girl would look down on magic that the founder had taught them. "True that there are some illnesses that we can't heal since, for unknown reasons, the injury would instead grow horribly."

Aile raised her eyebrow at the girl who immediately closed her mouth and shifted uncomfortably when they made eye contact. It seemed that Montmorency was still a bit shaken from her brush with death yesterday despite the fact that Aile wasn't trying to kill her just showing off a bit. That was all Leviathan's fault not hers. "Mon-mon, do you know what a cancer is?"

Montmorency froze on the spot. She didn't know what to reply to; the fact that Aile had asked her a question or the fact that this girl had somehow found out about her nickname that Guiche usually used when the two of them are alone together or the fact that Aile was using her nickname right now. Indecision was such a nasty thing, it made one stop cold in their thinking, making them hesitate in their choices or worse, embarrasses themselves with it.

With a knowing sigh, Aile instead answered he own question. "A cancer is a malignant part of the body that had a sudden change in its DNA structure and become aggressive. It will keep on growing and invading the surrounding cells until the patient dies." She turned around and began working again before adding an explanation. "The way that I heard it, your magic are hastening the growth of cells in the patient's body and at the same time removing harmful substances but unfortunately, a cancer _is_ a part of a patient's body thus it cannot be removed and instead it will continue to grow at a heightened pace."

Montmorency didn't reply to Aile's explanation for her mind had wandered to the time she saw her ailing grandmother being healed. It was horrific to say the least. The last time that she saw her grandmother was when she was still a toddler and when she found out that they were visiting her again after several years, she was elated and she begged her parents that she'll be allowed to come with them. Back then she thought that she was very fortunate that she managed to convince her parents but what she saw there made her think that she was living on a nightmare. During the night she managed to sneak out of her room to surprise her grandmother but when she entered her room and what she saw inside frightened her to her very core.

Her grandmother …

Her beloved grandmother …

Whose warm, gentle smile always brought joy to her life. Whose gentle demeanor eased her troubled mind. Whose warm hands soothed her aching wounds.

Was now nothing more than a twisting blob of flesh.

Montmorency stopped her work and hurriedly walked to the shade of the tower, sweating profusely, and profoundly suppressing her sudden urge to empty the contents of her stomach. She just stood there, her back facing her classmates and deeply trying to force herself back to reality. Now wasn't the time to remember such frightening truths about the horrid past but it was hard to ignore for Aile had incite the thoughts albeit accidentally.

Louise noticed her sudden movement and dropped whatever she was doing before she stood and asked, "Hey, are you all right?" Though she already knew that Montmorency would outright lie to her for this girl never liked to show any weaknesses.

"I – I'm fine. I just needed to go to the bathroom for a second." She hastily replied before dashing away, proving Louise's point unknowingly.

Louise sighed though she could sympathize with her pain especially when it was a nasty memory. She returned back to trimming the grass while wondering how that girl could move like that.

Guiche himself too turned around to look at her fleeting fiancé, he knew that move. Montmorency would run away like that whenever something had mentally strained her beyond her limits. He wanted to run after her right then and there but figured that for now it would be best for her to be alone. Sighing he returned back to his duty.

The way that she moved right then reminded him of when he first met her back at her home. His family was visiting the de Montmorency's but he had managed to sneak away somewhere and accidentally stumbled upon her room. Back then she was like a scared rabbit, always frightened by everything around her whether it was a sound or movement as if there's something that had spooked her and whenever he got too close she would run like that almost instantaneously. But what shocked him the most were her eyes; they were blank and almost devoid of happiness. Those eyes became his driving force to get close to her, to destroy whatever darkness that had eaten her mind to the point of shattering and to remind her that she's never alone.

To mend that broken girl back to the way that she was.

He felt footsteps coming closer to him. Wondering who it was, Guiche gazed to the side and saw Reynard walking to him but his eyes were turned to the door where Montmorency exited. Reynard stopped in his tracks just a few feet away from him and asked in his typical friendly manner, "What's wrong with Montmorency?"

A normal student would answer that question right away without a hint of doubt but Guiche knew him far too well that he knew that that wasn't the reason as to why he was here but still, as a sign of courtesy, he answered anyway, "Mon-mon must have eaten something bad." He outright lied to him but it didn't matter anyway.

"I see." Reynard blandly replied before crouching down and picking up the fallen tools. "Do you mind if I help out while she's gone?"

Guiche smiled at him, "Of course not."

Silence followed them, only broken by the occasional noise of the tools that they used.

After a while, Reynard looked infront and saw that Aile was sufficiently farther away from them. He then began to move on to his plan, "Hey, Guiche…" He whispered.

Guiche knew that this was coming; Reynard was the student's informant after all and he briefly wondered where in the world he got that information from. "Yah?" He replied, as brief as possible.

"I have been getting a lot of strange rumors about Aile lately. One of those was that she came from a different world unlike our own or the fact that those things at the side of her head are her ears and not ornaments."

Guiche chuckled a bit, "The ears are a proven fact since I had seen those up close yesterday but I'm not so sure about Aile being on a different world since she had said that she came from there yesterday with only her words as proof of it." He stopped there, thinking for a while, "Not unless you count the fact that she manage to summon the armor of god and wear it against me and Montmorency."

"Hm…" Reynard nodded at that and fell silent for a while, obviously thinking his next words, "About Aile, did you see anything strange about her lately? I know that you were one of the people who carried her to the infirmary days ago. After the contract did you see anything strange? Like a mark or something?"

"Not that I know of." He replied before a sudden thought reminded him of something. "Oh! Yesterday, when Aile used her armor, her right hand seemed to be glowing though I couldn't see why."

"I see. If you managed to look upon it would you sketch it on paper or something? I intend to find out what kind of familiar Aile is."

"Sure thing though on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You'll tell me what she is; whatever you'll discover about her."

Aile smiled to herself, her back facing the two boys hiding it from them. Unknown to all of the inhabitants of this world, her hearing far exceeded that of theirs by a few factors of magnitude thus she could hear even the tiniest of whispers from a block away if she concentrated enough but with the two of them just crouching down a few meters from her, she could clearly hear them like they were standing infront of her. This was one of the few gifts that she enjoyed being as the chosen one for X. '_So they plan to find out what I am. I could use this to my advantage._'

**=The Force of Nature=**

"Uhhhhgh! So tired~!" Louise droned as she kneeled infront of her bed before plopping herself down to it as her hands hung uselessly to the side aching with an intense throbbing pain for her muscles aren't used to such taxing work.

"It wasn't that hard." Said Aile as she closed the door to Louise's room and for good measure she propped a chair against the door knob. Seriously, why wasn't there any lock on these doors? For that matter do they even have a sense of privacy?

"My arms hurt." Louise complained as she rolled around to face the ceiling and felt the cool smooth surface of bed through her uniform. "Ugh~! So tired." She repeated as she closed her eyes, conserving whatever physical energy she still had.

"Now, now, Louise, don't just go ahead and fall asleep." Aile responded to the other girl's groaning. "Let's take a bath first to freshen up." She began to remove her clothes that were dirtied from the 'grass trimming' and as luck would have it they managed to finish the job in a single day thanks in part of that kid who decided to help out physically at first but decided to use his wind blades when he found out that it would take more than a day to finish at their current pace.

She first thought of borrowing Phantom and use her mandala stars to trim it with pin point accuracy. Sadly, Phantom was against it, reasoning that she, as her words put it, was NOT a gardener.

The tiny, pink haired summoner nodded but her progress was slow, hampered by the two lead like weights commonly known as her arms.

"Here, let me help you." Offered Aile, now down to her pink underwear or rather Louise's since she had no choice but to borrow it for the moment and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if anyone would know about it they would think of her as some sort of pervert for wearing another girl's underwear.

Well, technically, she had a mild case of that but those times were all Zero and Fefnir's faults influencing her mind. Nearly traumatized her back then when she did it on Prairiè since the woman who looked like a young girl was actually delighted about it.

Louise's eyes early bugged out when she noticed that right infront of her was Aile's chest barely contained within that tight undershirt but managed to contain herself to look impassive despite the slight blush on her cheeks. She wondered for a while why was she feeling like this whenever Aile was barely dressed but only had a minor impact when she was seeing her entirely naked. Was she developing a likeness to something? If she did she might as well stop herself now before it became a habit of some sort. "No, I'm fine. Just prepare the bath; I'll catch up with you there." Louise replied as she began to work on her blouse but she was still working a bit hastily for her hands are trembling.

Aile was a bit suspicious of her words but she did as she was told to anyway. "All right." Replied Aile, "Just don't take too long otherwise I'll go on ahead." And with that she disappeared behind the bathroom door.

Louise took a deep relieved breath at that before removing her clothes with a bit more ease than before.

She opened the bathroom door and heard Aile humming to herself as she placed her hand at the water on the tub, feeling the temperature to check if the water was too cold or too hot. Feeling someone's presence, Aile turned around and gazed straight to Louise's slowly flushing cheeks.

"Come here Louise."Aile started, "I'll help you relax."

That actually didn't help matters at all but rather actually made it worse. Louise only stood there with a blush slowly creeping up her cheeks while at the same time she's actively suppressing it as she stared at Aile's scarred yet beautiful body. She had seen it countless times before but had only begun to notice it now.

She caught herself and forced her mind to purge such thoughts away allowing her some semblance of coherent thought; one that did not include her ogling Aile's body and thinking of inappropriate things. Well, ok, her thoughts wasn't exactly inappropriate but rather those thoughts shouldn't have had entered her young, developing mind nor was she supposed to actively try it. Wait, the breast pillow didn't count! She was asleep during those times so it didn't count!

"Louise? Are you all right?"

Snapped out of her reverie by Aile's soft voice, Louise could only stare as the girl tilted her head questioningly at her.

"Are you going to come in, Louise? Or are you going to just stand there by the door looking at me?"

"Oh, oh!" Louise uttered as herself control slipped and a slight blush entered her face. She broke eye contact with Aile unable to look at her in the eyes while she slowly closed the door behind her before entering the bathroom. She calmly walked to the sitting girl, stood behind her, and calmly drenched the both of them with the pail at the side, surprising Aile before she said, "Fine, I'll clean you up first." It was then that her mind finally came to a conclusion: '_Now's not the time to be thinking about her little girl's beauty, now's the time to get cleaned_.'

Aile however was a bit surprised at the sudden torrent of water causing her to accidentally inhale some of it. She sputtered causing her to bend forward in an attempt to expel the water that had gone into the wrong tube. "Hey careful on that!"

The pink haired girl quickly apologized.

**=The Force of Nature=**

After a change of clothes which only comprised of about two things; one, the necessary panties, and the other, the barely decent almost see-through sleeveless night gown which Aile grudgingly accepted all the while asking herself why Louise had something like this. '_On second thought how would Louise look like while wearing this_.' She thought before the nature of her idea caught up with her and viciously stabbed it to death. There are some thoughts better left unsaid. The night gown was quite small too; smaller in fact, to the one that she wore yesterday since this one barely covered her thighs but she doubted that anyone would look down there since their eyes would feast on her chest. She groaned a bit due to the tightness in that area luckily it was still comfortable to wear. '_As far as I know, only couples in their honeymoon wear this stuff._' And she blamed Giro and his cache of shoujo ai manga stashed around the transporter's base. '_Wait, honeymoon?_' Her head snapped to the side to gaze at Louise as she dressed herself with that same pinkish, semi-transparent night gown. '_Oh God! If Giro's mangas are true then I'll karate chop her before she could do anything._'

'_Aile, this sort of thing will happen to you sooner or later so why not now?_' Leviathan questioned, giggling all the while.

The other biometals are silent. Either in respect or in sheer abject horror of what was going to happen next, or maybe they are already sleeping inside? Fat chance of that happening.

'_Before she could do what?_'

Case in point.

Fefnir, for all of her aggressiveness and sheer willingness to fight and wanton destruction was still innocent in these kinds of situations. And Aile didn't know what to do about it, would she be glad about Fefnir's obliviousness or exasperated.

'_Oh, don't worry my little short tempered, fiery, and explosive Fefnir. You'll find out soon enough and you'll be drooling after seeing it._' Zero, damn her and her perverted mind. She was like a feminized, biometal version of Giro.

'_God, no!_' Wailed X, '_Harpuia, Phantom, close your eyes!_'

'_I'll rather die than see it._' Quipped Harpuia.

'…' Phantom didn't reply; she didn't need to of course.

"Aile?" A sweet voice whispered.

Aile stood rigid and at attention. She and everyone inside her mind suppressed a shudder either in embarrassment or thrill. All of them thought that they knew what was about to come.

Of course they're wrong.

"Remember what you said before, back then after you sent out that feeling during Professor Chevreuse's class? That you'll tell me everything."

'_Oh!_' Were the collected thoughts of seven people, all thinking the same thing with expressions ranging from relief to disappointment.

"Well … um … sigh, I think it would be best for us to sit down for a while." She said lamely but the weight of the secret in her voice could be heard clearly.

With that the two of them headed for the edge of their extra large bed all the while Aile's slowly healing right hand was at the bottom of Louise's spine, guiding her.

Aile sighed as the weight of her words finally became noticeable to her. She had kept a lot of secrets from Louise, granted in that she wasn't really trying to hide it.

Feeling her distress, Phantom decided to intervene and spoke, '_Aile._'

'_Yes, Phantom?_'

'_Merge with me,_' She said in her clear, calm voice. '_I will help you in explaining it._'

Aile exhaled a breath, slowly calming herself, "All right." She said to herself confusing Louise in the process. She stood up and walked infront of Louise before leaning forward and placing her hands on the girl's legs then said, "Do not be afraid all right, it is just that whenever I used her power people always feel an intense feeling of fear and they sometimes will act irrationally, freeze on the spot, or outright run away." She stood up again took another breath and uttered with an intense concentration on her eyes. "All systems green. _**R.O.C.K. ON**_"

And the world turned to darkness…

Louise wanted to scream but her words got caught in her throat as the candles were snuffed away like the damned sent to eternal oblivion, sending the room to perpetual obscurity of the shadows and leaving the pale glow of the moons as the only source of light in the vastly darkened room. She shivered in fright and moved away from Aile to sit in the middle of their bed and huddled her legs up to her chest as her eyes darted around noting the gloom and the hands that were seemingly made out of the very darkness itself. She wanted to scream as those hands darted about before grabbing Aile, accumulating itself onto her and hiding her from view.

Louise felt her eyes welled up when Aile was swallowed completely whole, leaving her alone in the horror filled room, protected only by the glow of the two moons until a great burst of light shattered the darkness, forcing it to recede and disappear to nothingness. She was momentarily blinded by the light until her eyes finally adjusted and saw Aile clad in an armor of dark purple with a helmet that nearly covered half of her face and only showing her mismatched eyes, her mouth, and a tiny part of her cheeks; at her forehead nearly circling to the back was a gem with an arrow shaped design resting on a mask that had gone up to protrude like two horns. At her neck was a long scarf that parted into twins that nearly touched the ground.

Aile opened her eyes and gazed deeply to Louise's own orbs but she just stood there silently.

She didn't care what had happened back then, nor did she care why Aile was wearing a different armor, all that she cared about right now what that she was relieved that Aile wasn't torn to pieces by those hands and the fact that she was as mad as the time her eldest sister ate her chocolate. "Aile, what happened? Why did you do that?" She all but roared at her due to her emotions conflicting one other.

But Aile remained silent, letting Louise vent for a while.

After a second or two, Louise noticed Aile's silence and a worried frown etched itself onto her face. Composing herself, she asked, "Aile, are you all right?"

Taking this as her cue, Aile spoke in a voice not like her for her voice was soft and caring like that of a mother or a sister, and this voice was devoid of any emotion and was replaced by a silent, measured tone much like her own mother. "I am not Aile."

"W-what?"

"But at the same time I am."

"What do you m-mean?"

The armored girl bent her body bowing down to Louise, "Forgive me if I hadn't introduced myself, Mistress Louise" She said, "I am Phantom. One of the four guardians of Mistress X." Here she paused for a bit, as if contemplating about something. "And Mistress Aile."

Louise didn't know on how to respond so she just sat there gazing at her in mild fright while hugging her legs for comfort. "Mistress X? Mistress Aile?"

"Yes, I had asked Mistress Aile to merge with me so she can calmly explain to you the very truth of why she had this power and as to why her personality sometimes changes on a whim." She closed her eyes while standing there before opening them again. "I will now return full control over to Aile."

And with that, her demeanor changed suddenly but not by much. Aile's expression seemed to return to what she was before but with a subtle difference in that she seemed to have had inherited Phantom's composed nature. "Ok, where do I begin?" She asked herself. "Louise, I am what is called a Chosen One back in my home world. Chosen Ones are people that are able to synchronize with the biometals and use their power to do great things either good or evil and in my world there are only three people myself included that are able to claim the title of a chosen one." She fell silent for a moment, letting that entire information sink into Louise before she spoke again. "Each Chosen One is able to use only one biometal, but in my case I am able to utilize up to six of them due to the unique relationship of my biometal to the other five."

Louise held up her hand and halted Aile's explanation, "Wait, wait, wait! What's a biometal?" She asked; it was a legitimate question, one that would explain the truth to her.

She smiled and answered Louise's question, "A biometal is the soul of a fallen hero in my world encased in a shell made up of exotic metals to hold their souls from being assimilated into cyberspace, their final resting place."

"And Phantom," And here Louise shivered, no doubt that she still remembered the frightening transformation. "Is she a biometal?"

"Technically yes, however, after we made that strange contract, the biometals had been dissolved inside my body and now they are at their cyber elf forms and thus unable to leave my body."

Louise froze on the spot as fear entered her heart. '_An elf! Founder's bane, there's an Elf inside of Aile!_'

Phantom, the most emphatic of all the elves inside whispered to Aile about the turmoil that the little girl was having and Aile responded to Louise's pale expressions, "Had I said something wrong?" A rhetorical question technically but necessary to invoke a good response.

"You have elves! Elves inside of you!"

Aile shook her head and gave the correct answer, "Cyber Elves, Louise. I do not know what an elf is like in these strange lands but on the place where I come from they were nothing more than characters on children's books. Cyber Elves, however, are energy beings that have abilities that can help people."

Louise took a shaky breath, calming herself down from those kinds of thoughts. "R-Really? Then they aren't powerful magic users that despised humans?"

AIle raised an eyebrow at that while Phantom narrowed her eyes. For Aile, they were radically different from the stories that her mother had read to her for one, they are docile creatures, two, they aren't racists, and three, they would go out of their way to help people.

Phantom had a different idea in mind. If these so called elves threatened and harmed both of these girls then she would personally hunt them down and execute them. That is, if she found her chosen one here despite the impossibility of it.

I see." Was all she said before she remembered something from two nights ago during their contract. "Aile, you said six right? Do they have elemental affinities?"

Aile nodded at that before dismissing Phantom in another burst of darkness but this time it was a lot shorter than before leaving no time for Louise to be startled. "Three of them actually, Harpuia, Watcher of the Fierce Skies; Fefnir, Spirit of the Scorching Flames; and Leviathan, Visage of the Dark Oceans." She went closer and sat at the edge of their bed before explaining further, "Harpuia uses Wind and Electricity, Fefnir uses fire, a lot of fire, and Leviathan can solidify water."

Louise heard it but she's lacking one element. "What about earth? Do you have that?"

Aile shook her head.

Louise sighed; she was that close to have someone with a full set of magical might, "What about the other three?"

Aile beamed at her so brightly that it was almost blinding, "The other three are the ones that I most trusted… no that's not the word, hm…" She fell silent for a moment before giving out a sigh, "I can't describe it but they helped me out the most when I'm in despair. Phantom, the Stalker of the Shadows; Zero, the Memento of the Fallen Hero; and finally, X, the Guide to Limitless Possibilities." She leaned on her arms and watched at the darkened ceiling before turning around and returning her gaze at Louise. "Louise, I am the Chosen One of X. After Giro died I am the only one to be able to stop Serpent, the first Chosen One from destroying and killing people."

"Who's Giro?"

"He … He was the Chosen One for Zero." Said Aile as she relieved that painful memory, a sad smile etched itself on her face as tears threatened to fall. "He gave up his life so that I would live."

"I see. I'm sorry for making you remember such horrible memories."

"No, it is all right."

A thought occurred to her but she was afraid of Aile's reaction to it. "Is Zero really her name?"

"Hm…?"

"The elf, I mean the Cyber Elf. Is Zero really her name?"

Perturbed by this strange question, Aile looked at Louise quizzically, "Yes, why?"

"I – no, sorry, it was nothing." She shifted involuntarily about on the bed, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes averting its gaze from Aile, taking a sudden interest on the underwear that she gave to Aile through the semi transparent gown.

Aile was going uncomfortable by the second and it took her a moment to notice that Louise wouldn't avert her gaze. "Um… Louise."

"Yes?" The girl in question deadpanned still looking at Aile's like it was completely natural.

Unable to take it anymore, she placed her hand infront of her womanhood and one over her breasts, just in case, hiding it from the other girl's sight. "Louise, will you stop staring." Her blush threatened to creep up her face especially at the situation they were in. Two girls on a bed, in barely decent clothes, and one of them just bared her secrets to the other and in the books that she had read it usually leads to...

'_Oh Yes! This is better than those shoujo-ai mangas!_' Zero quipped, her amusement practically oozing out of her unseen smile.

'_Must not think about it. Must not think about it. Must not think about it._' Harpuia chanted to herself, trying to block out the thought that Aile had accidentally imprinted on them.

The meaning of her words actually reached Louise's mind and for a moment nothing seemed to happen before a very bright blush spread across her face when she noticed just _where_ she was staring at. Looking back up she saw Aile in a state of self consciousness that actually made her look a bit more vulnerable than it should have and it was taking all of her willpower to stop herself from pouncing on the girl and taking her there. '_I'm not Kirche dammit!_' Were her thoughts on the matter at hand. She is a Vallière, unbendable nobles who went by the rules of steel making them practically unconquerable even by their emotions. '_But – but Aile looked so beautiful. I … I._' Slowly, the chains that held her down began to crick and crack allowing some of her instincts to be set free before reasserting itself tighter than before. Summoning up her courage, she tackled Aile down on the bed before stopping abruptly.

Aile didn't know whether to be disappointed that Louise stopped herself or horrified that her deepest fantasies had almost happened. Oh God! She's on top of her and her head's about to spin from the blood rush. She hadn't felt this sensation before except during that time when she **R.O.C. ON **with X and fought that Giga Aspis. The thrill of battle was exhilarating especially when she released that double charged plasma blasts. But she's not in a battle right now and as a matter of fact she's in bed with another girl, in another world, and possibly in another time. She looked up and in her enhanced eyes she could see Louise's own orbs bearing down at her. She couldn't look away for their faces were caged behind Louise's cascading strawberry blonde hair like a waterfall containing a cave in which the two of them could find solace from the world around them. She couldn't look down for deeper inside were the sinful yet heavenly delights that only this girl atop of her could give if she wished. The very thought rendered her paralyzed underneath, if she did gave it to her, could she stop her? _Would_ she stop her?

WARNING! Core temperature above normal and the reproductive organs are stimulated.

'_Oh that is __**NOT**__ helping at all!_' Aile thought, her eyes started to swirl from what her onboard AI whispered. The one that checked her vitals and not the cyber elves inside who had mixed emotions about it ranging from Fefnir's innocence, '_Does that girl have a thought for anything other than battles?_' Harpuia and Phantom's horror stricken nature, '_Had they been traumatized before?_' Leviathan and Zero's perverted thinking, '_Those two crazy lolicons!_' And X, wait, why was she sleeping at something this important?

Louise gazed down at her tormented at what to do in this situation before her mind gave her a compromise that would pacify both the Super Ego and the ID. She lowered herself, pushed down Aile's nightgown and rested her cheek on Aile's soft chest using her breasts as a sort of makeshift pillow.

"L-Louise! What are you doing?" Aile's brain was so fried that that's the only thing that she could think of asking at the moment. She tried to resist but her hands are jelly for the moment.

"As punishment I'll use you as my pillow from now on." She lied but then again Aile did scare her this night and that time at the court about her work and she was _not_ digging! The tool was just heavy, that's all!

"Punishment for what?" AIle's eyes bugged out at that. '_I hope Louise is not into bondage._' She never liked those actually, especially when it was done to her.

"For scaring me tonight and for commenting about my work back at the court." She said, inhaling Aile's scent and avoiding eye contact with her for she knew that her face was the same color as her hair.

"Now wait just a-"

"Shut up! You're mine and you'll do exactly what I say!" She had already dug her own grave so why not dig deeper.

A flicker of understanding strangely appeared on Zero's mind and she voiced it without any restrictions or subtlety. '_She's a tsundere!_'

'_She's huh?_'

'_A tsundere. You know, the characters that would act aggressively but had a tender side deep down. And right now she's having her tsun-tsun moment so just let her slide._'

Aile could only groan, giving up suddenly as per Zero's instruction.

'_And she's the possessive type._' Added Leviathan _quite_ helpfully.

**=The Force of Nature=**

The wind howled in the cool night sky giving the impression that it was singing with all of its might generously letting everyone who could hear it the emotions of loneliness, loss, and pain, but even with those hampering it, it still was able to give off the feeling of hope that someday somewhere salvation would come and it would be set free. Such were the thoughts of the young child named Tabitha as she rode her dragon and soared thru the night sky.

How she wished that she were the wind, without a care in the world and always drifting from place to place calling everything her home whether it was a castle or a sweet humble house. But instead she was a human with a burden to keep, a burden that she was forced to bear for being born, for being the only child of her mother that was brought to insanity by the people who wished to kill her for her heritage.

She wanted to cry but the time to shed tears were long gone and was replaced with the duty of a noble with ties to the cold hearted king to save her mother. Her emotions were crushed, buried deep within her heart weeping, chained, and caged like an animal screaming at the world who had wronged her and herself for being alive with a cursed life of hardship. But deeper within those emotions there lied hope, even if it was just a tiny spark barely able to illuminate her soul; it was still there shining a path through her own abyss.

A thrill was heard belonging to her dragon, her familiar, her partner in these dark times. She patted her ride, assuring her that she got her message before noticing something below. Two figures covered from head to toe in a cloak made up of patches of grey and brown and she knew for instance that the two were either outsiders who had managed to sneak inside trying to get treasures or valuable information about this academy or the two students who were known to be able to get any kind of information as long as the information wasn't destructive or would benefit both parties in the end.

She truly wished for the latter and none of the former. For the former would make her stay difficult and sooner or later would force her to stain her hands with their blood. The latter however, would allow her to eavesdrop in silence. She raised her staff and made a few motions making a spell that would allow her to hear the conversation below.

**=The Force of Nature=**

"Urgh! What in the founder's name was that?" Said the first cloaked figure. They had made the cloaks themselves allowing for them to easily blend in with the walls of this side of the castle but unfortunately it made them quite easy to spot from the air due to the different coloration of the floor but it didn't matter for they were heading for the top most part of this stone and marble part of the architecture.

"Don't ask me, Gimli, I'm still trying to know what she is." The other responded. Both of them had casted a line class eavesdropping wind magic with Gimli using the spell for hearing, amplifying the wind for the words that were normally inaudible at the distance that they had, while the other had used the spell for watching, calling forth the wind and the water to make a mirror that magnified the window that they were watching but the dim, insufficient light of the candles had unfortunately hampered their ability of what was happening inside for they could only see the girls' silhouette. Both spells were forcefully cancelled out when the twisting darkness appeared from the ground and consumed everything that they could see while Gimli's spell dissipated, the willpower that was being channeled through melted away like butter on a hot stove when a sudden inhuman shriek made itself known like the screams of the damned.

"I guess we'll have to revert to our back up plan, Reynard." Said Gimli as he retrieved something from the pocket of his coat.

Reynard continued to watch at the coiling darkness as it tried to escape but the glow of the moon hampered its movements. A hand outstretched, he felt the cool tubular feel of one of their miniaturized telescopes and he stretched it out on his hands while Gimli did the same. They peered into the window silently and were momentarily blinded by the sudden flash of light. "Ow!" He said as he removed the telescope and blinked a few times trying to restore his sight.

"Well, that's something that you won't expect every day." Commented Gimli as he placed the telescope to his other eye and held it with one hand as he used the other to rub his temporarily blinded eye.

"Tell me about it. Anyway what do you see?"

"See for yourself." Replied Gimli as he returned the scope back to his other eye. "Was that the Armor of God?"

That statement brought him back up and he peered through the scope and saw Aile despite being heavily shaded by the darkness inside room and made even harder due to the dark coloration of her armor. "I'm not sure." He replied, "I had heard that the Armor of God was colored with a light shade of blue and I am definitely sure that that isn't blue."

"Too bad we can't hear what they're talking about."

"Yah," He said and with a resigned sigh he gestured for Gimli, "Let's go back. We're not going to get any info by just watching them."

"Agreed, at times like this I wish I knew on how to lip read like some of the commoners."

"You and me both."

Unknown to the two sleuths a smile appeared on the lips of a girl in the sky.

**=The Force of Nature=**

Louise knew that she was dreaming.

She knew because there would be no other explanation for her to be floating upside down in the middle of nowhere and without a stretch of clothing. She tried to right herself up which she admittedly thought to be hard but was quite surprised when it proved to be quite easy for her. She looked around, taking note of her surroundings and concluded that she could be in a cave somewhere; a man made cave made of metal and stone that she couldn't identify and what was worse was at a distance there was this giant sword-like thing with a red central eye glaring at her, or would have if it was really an eye for in reality it was a jewel of some kind.

She heard footsteps slowly marching towards her. She turned around and gazed straight to the darkness beyond.

One by one, people slowly emerged from the void with nary a pause in their steps as they came closer and closer to her but stopped midway through and pointed their weapons …

Not at her fortunately but it didn't stop Louise from shivering in fear but rather to the door directly below the eye. She shrugged off her fear with a mighty heave and hurriedly floated to the side well away from their line of sight.

'_This is just a dream_.' She assured herself but she couldn't quite get the feeling that something here wasn't quite right. '…_Just a dream_…' she continued to chant over and over. It wouldn't be really all that bad if it wasn't for the unnatural things to have a single glowing red eye and their abnormal shiny bodies. And because of that she refused to think of them as people and her sub consciousness helpfully provided with her with an alternative description to call these things.

Golems…

"Fire teams fan out!" Someone in the crowd ordered with a deep male grumbled and immediately some of the forces marched to the sides and took flanking positions some of which wenth right through Louise.

"Sniper teams take position. Shock Troopers front and center." Another one voiced though hers was cheerfully melodious.

Louise gathered up her courage and passed through several bluish white golems until she found two figures that are distinctively differently armored than the rest of the golems. One was clad heavily in his own armor with a red and white color scheme; the other was definitely feminine in her skin tight armor colored with the hue of water, a light bluish white.

She gasped when she saw the armored girl, her stance, and her weapon. She looked very much like Aile was when she first saw her in her armor. '_Aile?_' She thought. She would have said it if it weren't for the fact that this was a dream that she was having.

The armored female turned to the side and Louise's shock lowered down. She wasn't Aile but rather someone she hadn't seen before and just when she was thinking about it the red one answered her question unknowingly.

"Take the rear Leviathan." He rumbled out in that deep baritone voice of his as he walked away from her and towards the red glowing eye.

"Fefnir! I told you to call me Levi!" She half screamed, half whined. This girl is definitely the childish one of the pair.

"Whatever." He replied dismissively.

This only seemed to irate her further as she stomped her foot cutely against the pavement again and again forming a small crater on the ground.

'_Fefnir? Leviathan?_' Louise thought in wonder for those names seemed to be familiar to her for some reason. Her train of thought abruptly halted when saw a bright flash of red light and heard the rumble in the room but she couldn't feel it though for her body seemed to be able to pass through anything it touched. She turned around and faced the eye and noticed most of the golems fell to their hands and knees while some are on the ground unable to get up and the rest are crushed from the falling debris.

She looked to the side and noticed that the two didn't seemed to be bothered by the sudden rumblings and instead their gazes was focused on the door infront of them as if they're expecting someone to come barging in.

And as abruptly as it came, the rumbling stopped.

And the two instantly swung into action.

"Status report!" Screamed the girl, all traces of childishness suddenly disappeared from her and was replaced with something akin to a cold, drawn steel, unfeeling and vigilant.

The red one suddenly flashed ahead with his weapon at the ready and aimed at the door, bulging muscles tensed for combat that he knew was coming.

And he was not disappointed.

The door bulged slightly as if something had hit it from the inside with enough force to leave a dent. Another one came, much larger this time and Louise estimated that the size was larger than a man's head. A third reverberated through and she saw a fist the size of a large three trunk broke through the steel door.

'_H-How…?_' Was all that she could think of as her mind blanked out due to an unusual feeling of fear at the mere sight of the monstrously giant hand. She looked around and saw the golems all around seemingly waiting for orders from the two differently armored beings who were in turn patiently sizing up their apparent foe for a fight that could very well take their lives.

The fist disappeared inside only to be replaced by the fingers of both hands forcefully separating the door open from the inside; and from the abyss the giant being emerged, fully rested from his slumber, ready to start a war of genocide once again.

He gazed down with his unseen eyes and a malevolent grin spread from his unseen lips as he stared at his sacrificial lambs waiting for him to slaughter them all.

**AN1:**

Guiche was next asking himself why Reynard wanted him to keep an eye on Aile and why he stopped him from coming to the vestry court, Montmorency came to his room.

Reynard was researching but didn't find out any about why someone like Aile was summoned by the zero so he thought on what to do on his next plan involving asking guiche if he can ask if there's anything that happened after Louise and Aile performed the contract and if so write it down.

Aile asked the biometals what could have caused her to heal quicker overnight. They replied that she should ask Louise if she did something. Of course Louise blushed.

Eye colors:

Aile - Green

X – Light Green, somewhat sparkly like an emerald

Zero – Blue, Cobalt Blue I think

Harpuia – Dull Green, somewhat like X's but without the sparkle

Fefnir – Vermillion, leaning closer to orange

Leviathan – Azure Blue, same as her armor

Phantom – Black, nuff said

**AN2:**

A lot of Fanfics detailed about Louise being told that she was a void mage. Now what would happen if she found it out on her own?

Your frustrations in thinking that I'm writing a Yuri fic is so entertaining. Its laughable. And yes, despite your protests it is still not yuri. I am moving onto something … different.

At Episode 3 of Zero no Tsukaima at 3:40, Louise almost gave out a panty shot except it wasn't straight at us.

Guys, had it ever occurred to you that Model A was a tad bit whiny despite the fact that Model A was actually Albert's back up? Does that mean Albert, back in his days was whiny himself before Model W made him nuts?

AARG! Shut up! Shut up! Shut Up! I had been playing Star Craft for hours while writing this stuff and now the Protoss Zealots won't shut up! And they always return when I began typing this.

Thanks for the review guys but could you give me some more insights?

**AN3:**

Well, since you wanted him here he is.

**Replies:**

**Akuma-Heika:**

a. How about Aile being slowly brainwashed by the runes? Along with Louise for good measure.

b. I had already explained that before. Aile was chosen because of the souls that she carried. Way, way different from a Gandalfr and his talking Sword. Her body acting like a catalyst of sorts and the fact that all the guardians are once a part of X. Only Zero still needs to Double Mega Merge.

**Kaiser-0:**

That's one of my worst problems

**Queensarrow:**

Thanks for the corrections. And don't worry I have a lot in my mind about this fic.

**Kohey:**

*Smiles* It will take a while before I wrote the explanation and when I did it will blow everyone's minds.

**Others:**

People always ask if Omega was going to be included in this story. Now here's a question for you guys. Why would I add an overly powered and very much insane character that can destroy Halgekenia if he wished? And no, don't answer me with reasons like it will be cool or something along that line.


	6. Chapter 06: A Familiar Face

**Chapter 06: Gaia's Wayward Son**

**.**

_Call me Saito. Hiraga Saito__. _– Saito

**.**

Aile couldn't sleep that night. Well, she could sleep but the girl sleeping on her chest and using it as a makeshift pillow was involuntarily making her stay up all night due to Louise's occasional movements and making her chest tingle with that slight annoyingly pleasurable sensation. She then thought back, wondering how could this girl manage to trick her in allowing herself to be used as a pillow substitute.

'_Aile…_' An eerie voice called her name from within but she already knew who it was.

'_X?_' Aile asked, '_Is there something you wish to tell?_'

She wondered why X wasn't there when Louise was trying to take advantage of her and was about to ask when a different train of thought occurred in her head and decided to wait for X to say something.

She could hear X's mental sigh, '_I know that this isn't the time to say it but I can't help but tell you right now since if Fefnir heard about it she will throw a fit and demand you to change her back._'

'_Change her back? What do you mean?_' She asked as she involuntarily stroked Louise's mane of strawberry blonde hair.

'_Well, for us to charge our energy cores, the cores that we use as our source of power for our cyber elf forms. This form of energy that this world called magic used you as a base for channeling itself to us and unfortunately, cyber elves used the template of the bodies they inhabited to form themselves and determine their gender and mindset. Since we are all now female in thinking … well … um …_' X explained but she trailed off, unable to finish her investigation about what the _how_ they all turned into their current female selves and tried to say it into something that didn't seem like she was blaming her.

And of course she failed miserably at that.

Aile blinked and fell silent as she tried to process this information. She already knew that X didn't blame her but it still didn't stop the feeling that X was saying that it was her fault. Then again, there was no way to break this kind of information to her any easier. '_So you're saying that it was my fault?_'

X winced, she hated it when she's accusing someone who did something involuntarily … or was framed; in this case it was rather both since being stuck inside Aile was the cause of their gender change and it was Louise's fault for casting that magic upon her making Aile an unwilling and unknowing pawn or subject.

Louise moaned in her sleep and tried to bury herself further into Aile's generously soft chest making said girl wish that she could squirm away from the sleeping older girl made a lot much more worse due to one of Louise's legs between hers and was trying her best to merge with her. '_God! I wish that she wasn't so clingy._' She didn't mind being hugged on since Prairie occasionally did that whenever she was invited to her bedroom. She nearly shivered at the memory of her commander's bedroom. It was fine for a girl to have a lot of stuff toys in their beds but Prairie's room was _overflowing_ with them and she almost felt sympathy to Zero's feeling back then since the biometal had an occasional fit of nightmares from it and screaming about someone named Iris and how the once nice, fake British accent girl went after him in a purple mecha suit.

Aile shook herself out of her reverie and gazed at the silky face of her summoner nearly hidden beneath her strawberry tinted hair. '_She's beautiful when she's asleep._' She thought as she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her and drift her into the sea of unconsciousness. '_I wonder what she was dreaming about. I hope she's having a nice dream._'

If she only knew that Louise was having a nightmare…

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

She wanted to scream but her mouth wasn't there.

She wished she could cover her eyes but her hands aren't there.

And thus she, Louise de la Vallière could do nothing but stare at the scene in muted, horrified silence as the giant, pale monstrosity ravaged the scene infront of her. Turning the room they all were trapped in into a giant slaughter house as it roared and charged at the enemies that stood in its way with its giant bare hands that seemed to float on their own accord.

The last three identical golems split up and began firing, asking the two unique individuals to retreat as they distract it.

They never heard the reply as they were torn apart.

"Ha! Do you really think that you'd get me that easily?" Fefnir stated, dashing to the side to avoid a very nasty grab that left the place where he was standing from into shattered masonry. He stood to the side and braced himself as he fired round after round of flame enhanced plasma blasts from his twin arm cannons Sodom and Gomorrah forcing Omega to set his eyes onto him giving time to his melee oriented sibling to sneak up on this reploid monstrosity.

Leviathan panted as she dashed towards her foe. She herself had faced such powerful beings before and won, well … except for Zero of course since she figured out, much to her chagrin, that he was on an entirely new level for an ancient reploid; matching her speed and dexterity, and Fefnir's endurance and firepower with his skills and experience alone. Heck, a year before this Zero had managed to survive in the desert for a year with Harpuia's entire army on full steam hunting him down at every turn and still managed to escape, destroying every unit that laid its eyes on him.

And this devil infront of her seemed to be doing the same thing as him but unlike Zero's calm and collected personality that she enjoyed to fight against, this one seemed to be utterly bent on killing his foes in horrifying and twisted manner that made her energy converter a little bit queasy making her wish to puke it out but she held herself still as she lunged into the air with her spear aimed at his neck intending to sever his spine from his body, paralyzing or killing him in an instant.

In a split second, the monster dodged just in time and avoided the tip of Leviathan's Glave. Leviathan was surprised for a bit but she didn't stop her momentum and instead began to follow up her attacks. One after another he managed to evade with agility that would have seemed out of place for such a giant reploid and infuriating the tiny commander more and more.

Fefnir growled irritably. He would really like right now to help his sister and fire off a few shots at that bastard but he was occupied for the moment as he tried to shoot down the two levitating arms forcing him to use both his Sodom and Gomorrah in his defense rather than using the other weapon to fire a few potshots against the floating freak.

Leviathan gave out a grunt of frustration as the beast eluded yet another jab to the neck by a hair's breadth. She, unfortunately, wasn't cut out for a long arduous battle outside of her elemental affinity of water for her moves are graceful yet overbearing like a fish swimming in the currents. Thus, in effect, her movements had a side effect of forcing her to brace the water's resistance but on land it has the bad habit of making her sloppier making her look like a ballerina trying to dance on ice and overcompensating it.

Fefnir's philosophy (If he ever had one) always centered on overwhelming firepower to smash his opponents to pieces with little to no actual strategy in fighting which rendered him very vulnerable to hit-and-run attacks and experienced adversaries. He usually compensated for this by the sheer volume of his forces that usually rendered such weaknesses null and void but sometimes he comes across tenacious oppositions that managed to slip by. He had retired all of them of course, all except one that is but that someone wasn't here right now and it appeared that there would be another one that would survive against him but this time he knew that he's the one who wouldn't survive.

Sensing opportunity, the great reploid spun on his armored foot and used the other to kick Leviathan at the small of her back and was rewarded with the feeling of her spine breaking in two making her numb hands release her glaive as it rattled to the ground, useless without its master.

"Levi!" Fefnir screamed and for a second his mind drifted away from the two levitating fists to his sister which proved to be his mistake as the reploid exploited this opening to slam one of his fists down to the pyromaniac and driving the air from the flame general's artificial lungs while the other went after the downed female. He looked up and he knew that this beast must be smiling madly down at his sister behind that armor of his.

Fefnir grumbled incoherently as he tried to stand up, knowing that a few of his armor had cracked and are now poking his insides. He ignored the searing pain and willed himself to fight using one of his arm cannons as a makeshift crutch to steady himself as he took aim at the beast's outstretched hand, determined to veer it off course. He fired at the instant that the other hand slammed into him, breaking his back, destroying his aim, and sending the flame enhanced plasma over the beast's shoulder and impacting at the far wall.

"No!" He rasped, his breath coming out in a pained cough.

Louise wanted to either cry or scream in rage or perhaps both, anything, just to help these two from being killed.

"I won't let you hurt my sister anymore." He grounded out, his voice flickering in intensity in each syllable. Fefnir reached inside himself and touched his very essence, his very soul. The part of himself that had, at one time, been a part of his father. He held it in his grasp and empowered it, slowly awakening his full power, his full potential. He felt the heat within him rise and his body beginning to shift preparing himself for his Armed Phenomenon.

"I wish I could help them..." Said a voice in a whispered tone.

Louise looked to the side and saw two beings floating in midair wearing robes made nearly of white and one of them had two haloes connected together in the middle and if one were to look at him from the front it would be seen as the letter X.

"Do not worry Phantom." Said the haloed one, "He will soon be here."

The other one closed his eyes and lowered his head in thinking before adding, "But will he make it in time? Master X"

And right then and there the door opened revealing two figures and a smile appeared on the haloed one's lips. "He always did."

Louise let her gaze fell to the two new beings that advanced from the door. One of them wore an armor that was similar to Leviathan's but was shaded with the tinges of green instead of blue while the other with the rich blonde hair wore a sleek horned helmet and thin body armor that was predominantly black and red with white and gold highlights.

The blonde warrior spoke first and addressed the green reploid all the while activating his Z-Saber. "Harpiua, get you siblings out of here!"

Harpuia merely growled as he flew away. "Don't you dare order me around, Zero!" he retorted but did as he was told.

Leviathan was lifted off the ground by the claw holding her and even at a distance, Zero could already see the damage that hulking monstrosity had inflicted upon her and he could hazard a guess that she was in critical condition.

Delirious but still quite conscious, she opened her eyes and her gaze met Zero's own and a tired smile crept up to her lips despite the pain that her body was in, "Zero, I'm glad that you came… for me…" And with that, her computer core shuts her down, preserving whatever energy and memory that she had; blissfully unknowing that her right leg and left arm was torn away from her body as the claw tightened itself around her, trying to crumple whatever was left of her and squeeze her life away.

It was like a bolt of lightning or the sudden flash of a fire mage's spell, for Louise could swear that she blinked when it happened.

Just when Leviathan was about to get crushed, Zero released a fully charged plasma blast straight to the connection of the thumb and forefinger, chipping the armor enough for his Z-Saber to pierce through and damage the motor and pistons giving pressure to the reploid allowing the jolt to weaken its hold and release her.

The beast gave out a roar of pain before dragging both of his claws back to him while Zero retreated and placed Leviathan at a safe enough distance from them lowering her unconscious, battered body behind the sturdiest pillar that he could find.

"ZERRRROOOOOOO!" The beast drawled out his name, full of malice and wanton anger.

Zero, meanwhile, merely smirked and stared hard at it. It had been a while since he pushed himself and he knew that this time he will push himself hard. "Let's finish this once and for all, Omega!" And with that declaration, he charged.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

Aile moaned awake, forcefully shutting off the alarm that kept blaring on her head. '_That was a very rough night_.' She thought while her bleary eyes stared at the ceiling.

Last night she couldn't sleep, worried about the fact that it was her body that changed the cyberelves' gender but then again it also wasn't her fault since she didn't know about it and the elves themselves were depleted of energy.

Now that she thought about it, how did the elves lost their energy? They should have had an unlimited power source since she was sure that their energy replenishes over time and they were active right to the point that she lost consciousness after fighting Serpent.

'_Well, no need to think about that now._' She thought as her eyes shifted to the open window and beyond to the horizon, to the sun streaked sky just beyond the hills. Internally, her clock had adjusted the time from the usual twenty three hours and fifty four minutes to twenty four hours and thirty seven minutes. More than forty minutes longer than Earth in day length or rather, this planet is more than forty minutes slower than her world.

Her left hand scratched something and she felt the long soft strands of Louise's hair. Looking down, she saw the mop of pink hair of the tiny girl and felt the slow rhythm of her breathing nearly in timed with her own. Whenever she drew breath, Louise would exhale, and when she exhaled, Louise breathed.

She didn't know if it was her hand that had done it but she felt her stir and moan before pushing herself up with drooping eyes staring blankly ahead to nothing and her legs straddling over Aile's own. For several moments she just sat there, unmindful of her position as if she was distracted by something other than her morning rituals.

"Um… Louise?" Aile asked uncertainly. Her previous experiences with this girl during the mornings always resulted with Louise harassing her and with that in mind she grabbed the other pillow as a precautionary measure in the case that she did something.

Hearing someone call her name, Louise looked blearily into Aile's mismatched orbs before something caught her eyes and she looked further down, passing Aile's face, neck, and shoulders until her eyes fell on Aile's _not flat_ chest.

Alarm bells suddenly began to ring inside Aile's mind as she saw where Louise was staring at. '_Seriously, this girl must have some deeply repressed libido to be staring at me like that_.' She thought, not knowing how wrong she was. But then again, some parts of that thought was right but not at this time.

Or is it?

Louise cocked her head to the side minutely before rubbing her eyes to ward off some of the sleep then gaze at it again before saying something that she really shouldn't have said at the time. "Milk?"

Years into the future, she was quite glad that she didn't regret giving away those raunchy novels to that woman.

If it was just bells earlier then this time it was full on klaxons screaming inside her ears. Without a second thought, she tightened her hold on the unused pillow and none too gently slammed it at the side of Louise's face forcing her to wake up faster. If anyone had seen her do it they'll say that she was furious, embarrassed, or just plain shy depending on who you asked. Tabitha, the cold and logical one, would say that she's furious in an expressionless tone like usual, Guiche, the flamboyant one, would say that she's embarrassed right before Montmorency smacked some sense into the peeping tom, and Kirche, darn her, would say that she's plain shy without any experience to that sort of thing yet.

"No!" Aile screeched as she kept on hitting Louise out of fear for her chastity. "I'm too young for that!" She stopped hitting the poor pinkette and sat up or would have if she didn't felt something trail down from her chest to her stomach before being absorbed by the nightgown. She froze, '_It-it can't be…_' she thought, dreading to look down at her chest but at the same time knowing that she had to. She gave out a sigh of relief when she found out what it was. "It's your drool darn it!" She hissed, hitting her again with the pillow before calming down. "Honestly, what made you think like that? I'm still thirteen years old." She pushed herself up and sat up this time forcing Louise to fall down her back.

Louise started her counter-attack right then however as she rolled off of Aile, grabbed the pillow from her hand along the way and began whacking away, not mindful of where she hit. "What was that for? And what do you mean by you're too young?"

Aile was surprised by the sudden turn of events but naturally, it didn't last as she grabbed the pillow that she rested on and began trading blows. "You wanted to drink milk from me!" She said as the blush on her face intensified. "But I'm still too young to produce. And what the heck are you making me say?!"

Louise ducked low on the bed before jumping up and raising her pillow to hit Aile on the chin or would have if Aile's chest isn't that big, and it swayed from side to side like a water balloon whenever Aile moved. "I'd never do anything like that! It's just the first thing that came into my mind when I saw it." '_And why are they so darn bouncy!_' Of course she didn't say the last part. '_What in founder's name am I thinking?! Focus Louise! Focus on hitting her!'_

"Like heck it was!" Aile retorted, her face still flustered at what was happening.

"I'm not a baby who would do that despite how tempting it is."

"Oh? Is that why you set them free last night and use them as your own pillow? And what about that time that you had been playing with them, and you even squeezed them darn it! Don't you know how much that hurts?"

Both of them stopped right there before it escalated with Louise cupping her chest protectively as she looked away, fully knowing how sensitive they were and felt no doubt in her mind that what she had done to Aile yesterday must have been excruciating. She returned her gaze back to Aile and blushed luminously when she saw the girl had placed her arms under hers and crossed them, innocently drawing the attention to her soft orbs made even worse since she didn't made any movement to hide them behind her nightgown after being exposed last night and was thus laid bare for Louise to see. An Innocent Seductress.

Seeing those orbs made her wish to touch and squeeze them but at the same time it made Louise insecure about her body. She clenched one of her fists close to her heart as she gazed at the high heavens and bit her lower lip at the unfairness of it all.

After a few seconds she sighed and released her pent up frustration before apologizing to her summon, "I'm sorry, Aile. It's just that… It's just that … well… um …" She swallowed her insecurities aside before continuing, "I wanted mine to grow." She said her face heating up as she looked away while her arms and shoulders relaxed themselves before raising them again to show how small her own developments are.

"Hm…?" Aile tilted her head to the side as she walked closer to Louise, her mismatched eyes blinking when their attention was glazed at the twin teacups. "But they're growing smoothly."

Louise returned her attention back to Aile but her eyes were transfixed at the girl's chest. "It's… It's not that!" She objected hurriedly, "It's just that … I wanted mine to be as big as yours." She looked at her own chest and disappointment etched itself onto her face. "Mine are just tiny despite being older than you."

"Ah, I see." Aile said as understanding entered her mind. '_This girl was just too sensitive about herself and was afraid to tell anyone about it._' She sighed as she allowed her body to hug the girl infront of her who fell down to her knees and pressed her ear atop Aile's heart.

Louise reached up and cupped the mounds in her hands before a groan erupted from her lips when she compared them to hers. She squeezed a bit and whimpered at the unfair difference. She estimated that Aile's bosom is twice her size. '_And when she grows up, it will be bigger._' Were her not so innocent thoughts. She pushed herself gently away to stare at them and exclaimed, "I want mine to grow as big as these." She squeezed a bit experimentally.

Aile gasped a bit at the sudden movement of the girl's hands but didn't move away. "I'm sure that yours will grow soon, it could be that you are a late bloomer." She moaned as Louise continued her ministrations. "Um… Louise, could you please stop."

"No," Louise answered as truthfully as she could with her mind focused only on the pair before her. "I'm not done yet."

Alarm bells began sounding off in Aile's head when she heard that reply, "W-What? What do you mean you're not done yet?!" She jerked her hands to Louise's shoulders and tried to gently pry her away. Cue on the word try because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force herself to do anything too drastic that would hurt the girl.

And that's when the door burst open.

"Hey Louise! Are you free… today?" Kirche started to say only for the words to die in her throat as she saw what Louise was doing to the brown haired girl. Behind her stood Tabitha expressionless to what the girl was doing to the other as she turned a page of her book, mindful but unconcerned of the happenings around her.

Tabitha didn't understood what had over came her back then but she had uttered two words that she could blame to her past cheery, careless self. "They're fondling."

Aile stood stock still as her body remained unresponsive due to shock.

"No, I'm not." Louise denied as she kept _massaging_. "I'm just checking up on the things that I would soon have."

"T-Then why don't you fondle your own?" Aile stuttered as her heart beat hastened and blood crept up to her skin making most of her face blush scarlet. She tried to push the girl away harder this time but she still didn't bulge.

"I would but they're not as fun." She said as irritation crept up making her squeeze the orbs harder as if those are her anchors to Aile's body and making Aile moan at the sudden spike in man-handling.

A grin slowly spread to Kirche's face as she walked closer to the pair. "And why? Was it because you're as flat as a board?" This had the desired effect of angering Louise and she could tell due to the way that the girl squeezed harder making the other whimper and squirm restlessly. "If you wanted to know about the epitome of female flesh that much you could have asked me about it. I wouldn't mind if you tried it with mine."

_Boing!_

As predictable as ever when it concerned about how small her body is, especially when it concerned about either her height or her bosom. She abruptly and deliberately exploded. "I don't care about your obscene udders, you cow!" She screamed as she let go of Aile, jumped to stand straight at the bed, and point at Kirche's nose.

Aile raised her arms up to her chest to hide her abused assets and shivered in sudden alarm when she felt the temperature in the room suddenly rise by a few degrees making her prickly and uncomfortable.

"What did you just call me?" Kirche asked, the playfulness in her tone gone and was replaced with hot tones that would make an ordinary person nervous. It was like a small lit candle gently rolling on the floor towards the large pool of volatile dragon blood and everyone on the world knew what would happen when the two mixtures had contacted with each other.

Such was what would happen now when a Vallière and a Zerbst were to face each other. Tabitha sighed and raised her gnarled staff, whispering a tiny wind spell as she did and the door closed in front of her soundlessly. She really didn't need to see how the two would tear each other apart.

She waited outside for the two to simmer down or for Louise to push Kirche out of her room. Whichever came first.

A door two rooms away from her opened and its occupant walked out of her room accompanied by … '_Guiche?_' She mentally asked herself but didn't voice her words and instead decided on just raising one of her brows before returning back to her book in hand. Such questions are unnecessary to her or their relationship.

Unluckily for the three of them, they noticed her and proceeded to freeze on the spot unable to decide whether to hide back in Montmorency's room, run away from her as fast as possible, or explain why they are even at her room together in the first place.

For a few precious seconds they did nothing but simply gape at her until the door slammed shut behind the pair prompting Tabitha too look slightly up with a raised eyebrow.

Panicking slightly, Montmorency ran up to her and asked in a slightly pleading voice. "Please don't tell anyone about it." She could hear her heart beat pounding at her ears and she also knew without seeing it that the face was as bright as a ripe tomato.

Tabitha just continued to stare…

This is what she liked best about this pale girl. Her silent uninteresting stare, her allure, her ability to keep secrets…

And stare …

Then again, those are also her most disconcerting behavior…

And stare …

Who knew how many secrets she kept behind that uninterested gaze…

And STARE …

'_Oh, come on! Please just say yes!_'

Tabitha's lips parted slightly and Montmorency braced herself for her answer, "All right." It was barely a whisper but was still audible enough and Montmorency felt herself melt into a puddle in relief. What secrets Tabitha kept stays with Tabitha. And no one in the school even thought how much blackmail material the girl kept within.

"Hey did you hear that?" Guiche asked as he watched the closed door of Louise's room and behind it the muffed sounded voices that seemed to have gone on for a while now.

Tabitha returned herself back to her reading but answered Guiche's question with a single word. "Catfight."

"You heard me." Louise spat. "Those are obscenely far too large for a woman's."

"Ohohohoho! Is that so?" She laughed though there's no mirth in her voice. "These are perfect for enticing a man." She added, placing her arms under the bountiful things to accentuate them and it gave off the necessary vibe as Louise blushed crimson and hid hers under her arms as she looked away. Immediately, her anger dissipated as Louise's reactions are just too cute to be mad about. Oh, how she wished that this little girl knew how beautiful she was despite her size and could more easily charm a man without even trying if she just had a little more confidence in her own body. "What about yours?"

Aile didn't know what the two were fighting about but it was her chance to cover her chest with her nightgown. True that it was still visible but at least it provided some cover.

"Mine aren't too small!" She blurted and blushed even more as her words caught up to her. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish wanting to say something more but nothing came out.

"Are you sure?" Kirche cooed like she was talking to a small child which wasn't really far off the mark before noticing someone from the side. "Even your familiar is larger than yours."

"Eh?" Aile honestly uttered, thoroughly baffled that she would be sucked in their argument.

"Aile is my property!" Louise screamed and somewhere at the back of her mind was a nagging feeling that she had said something wrong but she ignored it. "Whatever she has is mine so those are my breasts too!" She stopped there as the feeling of wrongness intensified and she became aware of her own darn words with her face reflecting her frustration and embarrassment as it lighted up even more.

"Eh? I'm … huh?" She couldn't even form the words out. Seriously, what is wrong with the inhabitants of this world?

"Oh? Yours is it?" Kirche asked and the two girls knew that her words are laced with venom. "Then you must have spent some time playing with it since you'd never owned something that large before."

"Wh-Wh-What?!" for the nth time Louise screamed. "I did NOT do anything like that!"

"Are you sure you didn't?"

"Of course I didn't!"

"Then why are you blushing?" As she said this Kirche giggled. Teasing Louise proved to be always fun.

"It's because … because … ARG! Of what you are insinuating that I did!"

Kirche giggled again. "I know you Louise. If you have something you always want you grab it when your alone and deny when you're with someone else. You shouldn't hide what you wanted Louise and go with pride wherever you go and damn whatever other people think about you."

"Like what you always did around?" Louise asked, pointing to something that Kirche was famous for wherever she went. '_Poor, pure Tabitha for constantly being dragged around._'

"No, not like that but if you want to I will not stop you." Answered Kirche without any hint of being insulted. "More like you should go all the way with your relationship."

Louise didn't know on what to say. It was like someone had flipped a switch in their conversation going from two mortal enemies going off in a verbal spar to friends talking about one's relationship like a fire that would at onetime warm them up and burn them in the next second.

A low grumbled sound echoed throughout the room but was still recognizable as a girl's voice said just three words but was enough to make them notice her. "I like her."

Aile gasped at that and covered her mouth with her right hand while her left arm was covering her chest to hide the two poking things that decided to stand out due to someone's excitement. '_FEFNIR!_'

"Huh?" Asked Kirche.

"WHAT!" Louise screamed sounding betrayed.

"What in the world are you making me say?!" That was Aile right before someone 'borrowed her body.'

"That's simple, Aile." Fefnir grumbled, allowing the two others to hear her right before she jumped to stand on the bed. "I like her due to her steadfast dedication to whatever she does until she had finished it." She then placed Aile's hands on her side and puffed herself proudly, declaring, "One should go all the way and kick reason to the curb!"

Another voice made itself known and this one was filled with amusement and slight sarcasm, "Is that why you always lost to me?"

"Arg! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" She screamed as she flailed at nothing.

Kirche finally decided to intervene seeing that this girl seemed to be losing her marbles. "Um… excuse me. Are you all right?"

Aile finally wrestled herself back and answered in mild embarrassment. "Um… yeah, don't worry about it."

Louise, who knew better at what was going on, asked her directly, "Aile, who was that?" causing Kirche to look at Louise in confusion clearly wondering why Louise would ask the girl with that kind of question instead of 'are you nuts?'

'_I guess there's no escaping it then…_' Aile thought for a while and gazed at Kirche for a moment before answering. "Sorry about that. That was Fefnir." She paused for a while before adding, "And the one who tried to rile her up was Zero."

"Eh? Who? Who's Fefnir?" She asked but despite her confusion she still managed to give Louise a parting remark with, "Since I already know who Zero is."

Aile was clearly surprised by this and asked, "You do?"

"Of course." Kirche smiled and pointed her thumb at the tiny pinkette.

"Shut up!" Louise screamed, blood returning back to her cheeks making them rosier.

Never really one to understand a good joke unless she's the perpetrator, Aile cocked her head to the side cutely and deadpanned, "But that's Louise."

Meanwhile, somewhere inside, Zero was laughing herself off. Either that she understood the joke or the fact that the joke fell flat upon meeting Aile.

'_I don't get it._' X said.

'_Of course you wouldn't. You're almost as dense as a rock when it comes to these things._'

X processed what Zero had said and took into account at what she was hinting at before finally understanding what was going on and once again Aile found herself incapable of controlling her body. "Now that's just plain rude." She said as she unknowingly twisted her body to the side and crossed her arms signaling that she was peeved. "Louise may not be well endowed but it isn't nice to rub it in." Yes, X did choose her words carefully, deliberately bypassing the word 'flat-chested'.

After speaking her mind X released her control over Aile's body allowing the girl to speak her mind. "Yeah, it isn't nice to call someone flat."

X groaned, feeling a migraine coming while Zero's laughter roared once again and this time it was accompanied by Fefnir.

Louise didn't know on what to say or do by this point that all she could do was gape like a fish.

Feeling that the situation was getting out of hand, Kirche decided to intervene before everything was thrown off topic. "Yes, yes, Louise is flat, now mind telling me who's this Fefnir that you were talking about?"

"Ah, well, to put it bluntly, you could say that she's another person living inside of Aile." Louise answered, deciding to move the topic away from her underdeveloped body.

Kirche's eyes widened incredulously at what her friend/rival had said before returning her gaze back at the girl who decided to hide her body using the enormous bedcover and thus only her head, arms and shoulders were visible.

"Another person? A body inhabited by TWO souls?!"

"Seven actually." Said Aile as her other eye changed color to black for a brief moment before returning itself back to green.

"Seven?" Kirche repeated as she made a lunge and took the girl to press her to her bosom. "I guess you do have talent Louise, for you to have summoned seven different individuals in a single being must mean that there must be some magic within you." She had heard stories about weak individuals suddenly becoming stronger and calling themselves in a different name during the heat of battle.

"O-Of course I do!" Said the flushed pinkette.

"But it must have been traumatizing," said Kirche as she looked down at the squirming girl. "For you to gather this many souls you must have been traumatized far too much that it should have left you insane or worse." She then pulled Aile from her cleavage and the girl used this opportunity to finally breathe precious air. Kirche looked at her straight into those mismatched eyes, "But you had persevered and remained intact."

Aile didn't really know on what to reply to that. "Um … thanks?" She tried to remember the battles that she had fought but those seemed to be hazy somehow instead of being vivid.

Kirche finally let go of her and she said, "Alas, I must have been keeping you." She then turned to Louise, "Take care of your precious _honey-bun_ alright."

"S-sure …" Then Louise caught herself, "W-wait! She's not my honey-bun!"

But Kirche ignored her and opened the door, unintentionally letting in the two students namely Montmorency and Guiche, apparently they had leaned on to the door to hear what was inside and were caught unprepared when the door opened.

The two eavesdroppers sheepishly raised their heads to look at the two residents in their night clothes before blushing furiously.

Guiche, as noble as he is, still couldn't let this chance pass and ogled at the two beauties at his sights. Sure that he had his unconditional love for Montmorency but that doesn't mean that he won't take advantage of what he was seeing when the opportunity presented itself.

Montmorency meanwhile, uncharacteristically spoke first in mild embarrassment, "Ehehehe … um … hi?" She greeted weakly.

Realizing that there was a male in the room, the two girls slowly reeled their realizations in before erupting into twin screams accompanied by several items being thrown at the young man's direction.

The gears in Montmorency's head was slow to respond and it took a while for her to notice the occupants' attire before blushing and dragging her frozen boyfriend with one arm on his neck choking the life out of him with the other at his eyes preventing him from seeing the two while Kirche laughed at the amusing circumstances as she closed the door.

Aile just stood there, pillow in one hand with the other over her semi-exposed chest as she stared with an unreadable expression on her face. She really couldn't blame anyone from that incident but she had this odd sense of déjà vu that was making her think that the door had just betrayed her. "That's it!" She roared with her full being, "I'm going to find a dead bolt somewhere here or hunt down Siesta for a nail and hammer even if I have to transform to get it!"

"A dead what?" Louise pondered for a while before dismissing it. "Nevermind, let's take a bath for now, we are going somewhere today."

"Huh? We're going where?" Aile asked as she followed Louise. "That aside, what do you mean by 'whatever I had is yours, so these …'" She pointed at her chest, "'Are yours?'"

"Hiii!" Louise stood ramrod straight while a blush crept up to her cheeks. Stupid! It had been stupid of her to have said that earlier and now it was coming back to bite her. Even if she wanted to she couldn't answer a question like that so instead she chose the second option. Change the subject. "We're – We're going to the city and I'm going to buy you some clothes." After that she continued walking but was a lot stiffer than before.

She narrowed her eyes at that while Harpuia exclaimed, '_She's dodging the question,_' before deciding to drop it for now and asking the question of the matter at hand.

"But why Louise? We nearly had the same size?"

Louise jumped a bit then hugged herself. Luckily for her, her back was facing Aile that the other girl couldn't see what she was doing.

Unfortunately for the two, Zero was more … wary of a girl's insecurities. Taking over Aile for a moment she asked in a conversational tone, "I have a bigger rack than yours right?"

It was said so plainly and clearly that the other cyber elves could only groan as the tropical depression of pink accumulated itself and began her approach.

"What did you just say?!" Louise roared, "Are you saying that I'm flat?!"

"N-no! Of course not!" Aile denied as she took a step back. "And besides, it wasn't me! It was Zero who said it."

Three of the cyber elves all former Neo-Arcadia generals knew that one should never spoke of Zero's name least harm would befall on them and this were of no exception.

"And now you're calling me Zero!" Louise screamed as she picked up her wand from somewhere and began gathering her magic.

Aile had two options to choose from, one was to stop her from discharging her weapon and the other was to dodge. Stopping her right now was tantamount to suicide so she chose the second option. She dodged.

**BOOM!**

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"Mou! I told you that it wasn't me."

"And I already said that I'm sorry." Louise replied as she reclined herself onto Aile's chest as they bathed for the moment on their semi-heaven of comfortably warm water.

Aile sighed as she let the subject drop and turned her thoughts back to the memory of the said explosion. It was powerful, that was for certain and she knew without a shadow of doubt that if Louise had trained her innate talent at destruction she could level an entire city with just her mind but there was something that didn't add up. For some unknown reason, her magical explosion didn't seemed to harm her. Harm her? Aile opened her eyes briefly as she remembered something and turned her consciousness inwards.

Usually, she would do this infront of a mirror to see the effects it had on the outside of her body. She couldn't remember the first time that she had done this but it had become routine for her to check up on her body in the mirror before taking a bath. Quite possibly, her mother was the one who taught this to her due to paranoia that a virus might infect her without her mother knowing. It was reasonable for her mother to be a bit paranoid like that since she was a young girl back then when all the repoids had been mind controlled by an evil scientist before being defeated by a certain hero. Calling up a scan and systems check on her body, she was surprised that all of her sustained injuries have now all healed while the errors that had appeared here and there a few days ago had normalized. '_Weird,_' she thought, '_I wonder where am I getting energy from?_' She knew that a heavily damaged body would be inputting most of the spared energy to the body's designated nanite manufacturing core grafted to her thymus gland with a thickness of two to three milimeters. Her energy converter however was grafted as a lining on her stomach for a smoother conversion of energy.

Returning her mind back to the present she raised her right arm and clenched her hand into a fist before releasing and repeating the gesture again.

Louise noticed this and raised her head to look at her fully knowing what Aile was doing, "Aile, stop," She reprimanded and grabbed her hand gently, "You might strain it." She moved a bit and felt their legs intertwine. She hoped that she wasn't blushing right now but if she was she hoped that Aile would mistake that it was due to the water.

"No, its fine. I seemed to heal faster than before." Aile reasoned before a sudden thought entered her. "Wait a second." She said as her consciousness drifted inwards. She checked her systems again and this time she focused her attention to her power core near her stomach and the emergency subtanks around it. What she found there surprised her, she could understand if her power core was full since it replenishes itself when she's resting or eating but her subtanks were all full to the brim as if it was never used against … against … she pondered a little on that. '_Strange, who was the man that I last fought before getting here?' _She thought before pushing the thought aside as irrelevant before returning back to the world outside.

And got another surprise …

"Hm?" She asked blinking in surprise when she found out the posture that the two of them were in. The two of them seemed to have changed positions with a very relaxed looking but furiously blushing Louise under her with her face as the only part remaining above the water's surface whispering subdued under her breath and herself above in an intimate and very predatory posture as if she was going to devour her whole. She blushed suddenly mirroring Louise's own mere centimeters from her and made even worse since Louise's legs seemed to have a mind of its own as it kept on rubbing against her.

'_Darn it, Aile!_' Someone's voice rang inside, '_I was about to score!_'

"Eh?" Was the humanoid's intelligent reply.

"Z-Zero," Louise voice was passionate and quite seductive. "Please, d-don't. I-I already have a fiancé a-and I don't think that Aile would be happy about it. I-I mean that Aile wouldn't like it if she k-k-k-k- *gulp* me again. I-I mean … um … au …" She blubbered as her eyes swirled and her mouth sunk beneath forming bubbles.

Aile understood what Louise was blabbering about and screamed, "WHAT?!" before standing up or trying to since the bathtub was full and quite slippery thus her foot slid, bringing her back down on the tub but now they were on opposite ends but the worst part was that her foot connected with Louise's crotch.

"Ah!" Louise sighed before her brain shuts itself down from too much embarrassment from a certain cyberelf.

'_Wow! That went better than I expected._' Said the perpetrator.

'_You shouldn't have done that._' X declared and Aile could imagine the ancient cyberelf shaking her head.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"What happened back then shall never be spoken of ever again!" Screamed an exasperated and very much blushing Louise as the two of them walked towards a barn in the school grounds. Said girl knew of how flushed her cheeks had become and was doing everything that she could to hide it behind a façade of frustration. "You should put a leash on that girl inside your head, Aile."

Aile nodded her head, "I would if I could." She had borrowed Louise clothes again though despite her refusal Louise still dressed her otherwise she knew that the girl would throw a fit. "Unfortunately, she is the most … What was the word? Carefree?"

"A jerk is more like it."

'_I agree with Miss Valliere._' X stated, '_Zero likes to hide her pain behind a careless attitude._'

'_Ah! So deep inside she's all mushy and stuff?_' Leviathan asked and everyone could tell that she was practically beaming from that information.

Zero replied to that comment far too quick for it to be not to, '_heck no!_'

'_All right you guys, enough of that, and Zero, Miss Valliere is right. Don't just go and seduce someone especially if it is Aile's body._' X knew that a firestorm was about to be unleashed and like before she did everything that she could to try and stop it.

'_Wait, seduce someone?_' Aile asked as she flinch a bit, remembering her … compromising position.

'_Don't worry Mistress Aile, we made sure that nothing happened._' Phantom stated.

'_But Louise is so cute when she blushes. Its making me wanna pinch her cheek,_' explained Zero.

'_You sounded like an old lady._' Commented Fefnir.

'_No I didn't!_' Zero vehemently denied. '_We're both nearly the same age except that I'm a bit older than you by a few days._'

Not letting a beat, Fefnir replied, '_Then you really are an old lady._'

'_Why you little…!_'

And the bickering continued on much to the exasperation of both X and Aile.

They were right outside of the barn now and Aile's enhanced sense of smell began to pick up the mixed smells of the animals inside. Very faintly, she could hear someone humming inside and the sounds of scraping accompanying it. She raised her head and unconsciously adjusted the glare and saw that the maid Siesta was gathering the stray bits of hay using a tool that looked like a cross between a large steel comb and a wooden pole.

Aile peered at the strange tool for a moment, wondering what it was.

'_That's a rake mistress Aile_,' Phantom answered the unasked question and added what she knew, '_I've heard rumors about it that the ancient ninjas used it as some sort of weapon. I never thought that it was used for something mundane as this._'

'_Alas,_' Zero piped in, '_The real usage of tools was lost on the chaotic hands of time._'

'_That's highly poetic of you, Zero._' Commented X who would bob her head in mock amusement if she could, '_Despite the fact that it isn't poetry._'

'_So you're telling me that the great General of the Shadows who was also the Commander of the Intelligence Division had the blunder of misidentifying a gardening tool for a weapon?_' Fefnir asked, quite pleased for some reason.

Phantom didn't answer and there were a few snickers around.

'_If you're pragmatic enough anything can potentially be turned into a weapon._' Zero stated from experience.

'_Ah, I see but it seemed unwieldy._' Fefnir conceded, '_I wonder what Phantom would look like wielding that._'

'_That thing? As a weapon?_' Leviathan whistled in as she was the expert in melee weapons that had a extensive reach and everyone had a collective thought of Phantom using one in battle or in the case of Aile, using one while clad in Phantom's armor.

'_Nope, not possible._' Fefnir concluded. Others agreed as it was neither balanced not stealthy.

'_I agree,_' stated Harpuia.

'_Hm…_' Phantom tried to say and everyone could mentally picture her nodding her head.

'_Enough of that now._' Aile thought as she raised her hand and called the maid forth. "Hey~! Siesta~!"

Hearing her name, the maid stopped and turned around to see Miss Aile waving her hand and running to her while Miss Valliere was walking at a much slower pace and inspecting the horses. "Hello Aile. I see that your injured had finally healed."

Aile blinked at that and for a second she thought that she saw the girl's features relaxed into that of a caring mother before resuming her normal smile. "Ah, yes." She said as both of them looked down at her hand as she tested it before remembering why she came to her. "Wait, if you do not mind. Do you have a spare nail and hammer?"

"We do have those but why?" Siesta asked, cocking her head to the side in mild curiosity.

"Well, I was thinking of placing a deadbolt at the door to prevent people from entering without permission."

"Ah! Privacy isn't it?" Siesta asked, nodding her head in understanding at the girl's predicament.

Aile sighed, "Happened to you too?" She asked. '_This school really lacked security._'

"More than I can count."

Louise left the two of them to gossip as she looked around, finding a horse that could carry the two of them before finally settling on the one at the far end of the barn. She opened its stable door and rubbed her hand at its neck, checking its fur and its strength. Satisfied at its coarse but brushed fur and its well toned muscle, she took the reins and guided it out of its stable and climbed up its back before calling her. "Aile!" She called as the horse moved towards the two. "Hop in." She gave her palm for the girl to receive and smiled.

The two turned, stopped, and stared…

Siesta gasped as she looked at Louise and her outstretched hand at Aile. Never in her wildest dreams would she think that she would see this sort of sign. A noble gesturing like a prince for a young peasant girl to ride with him all the while telling her the adventures that he had, whispering sweet nothings to her and finally, by the end of the day, he would lower her down to the bed and a sweet, passionate …

Jealousy started bubbling up within her even though she knew that she had no reason to be.

Aile on the other hand is a lot more practical than the daydreaming Siesta. "Wow~!" She exclaimed, "A real horse!"

"Eh?" Siesta's delusions crashed to the ground when the peasant girl in her mind ignored the prince for the horse.

"What do you mean Aile?" Louise asked, quite puzzled at the question.

"Well, in the place where I came from horses are nearly extinct and the surviving ones are implanted with parts for them to survive." She responded, running her hands at the brown hairs and stroking its neck. A frown appeared at her face when a thought occurred to her, "But could it carry me? I mean, I'm a lot heavier than the average person here."

That stopped Louise for a moment as she remembered what happened in the morning the day before and conveniently trying her hardest to forget what happened earlier. '_Gosh! Why is hers so darn bouncy!_' She raged inwardly trying not to blush from envy before regaining her composure. "Well," She said trying not to sound strangled, "We'll never know till we try."

Aile nodded at the sound judgment and tried to lift herself on the horse but it protested and swayed forcing her to jump back down. "I guess I'm just too heavy."

"I doubted that." Siesta said as she patted at a spot on the horse's neck. "You just climbed wrongly that's all." She applied a bit of pressure on her middle finger, '_Be as fast as the Wind, as enduring as the Mountain._' "Try again, Cervantes can take it."

Nodding her head, Aile cautiously tried again but this time the horse didn't protest.

Louise tugged a bit at the reins and the horse slowly clopped out of the barn. Siesta accompanied them out and waved goodbye at the two until they were gone from her sights. She sighed a bit longingly before her eyes gazed at the beautiful, clear, morning sky with a few scattered white clouds and chirping birds playing with each other. "Mother, your descendant is a good kid and your daughter had grown up well …" She knew her words wouldn't be answered but she knew her mother was watching her in the afterlife. She stayed like that for a couple more seconds before resuming her work.

"So this is what riding a horse feels like." Stated Aile as she kept on leaning to the sides looking down at the body of the horse she sat upon. And like a curious child, she squirmed quite a lot, shifting their combined weight to and fro. "It feels very uncomfortable."

"Aile, stop squirming." Hissed Louise as she tried to control their movements. "You're going to tip us over due to your weight."

Aile's mouth twitched as an idea appeared in her mind. "Are you calling me fat?"

"What? Of course not! And you already know what I mean!" Louise screamed in irritation but at least her passenger wasn't fidgeting to the sides again.

'_Well, so much for that._' She thought as the idea crumpled away.

Now that that's taken care of, both of them stared right ahead and noticed three familiar students talking amongst each other at the front gate of their school.

One of the three noticed them since his sight was directed in their general direction and a small smile appeared at his face. "Hey! Louise, Aile! Where are you going?" He greeted as he waived his hand.

Louise pulled at the reins signaling the horse to stop. "We're heading for the city. What about you guys?"

Turning around, Montmorency jumped and blushed when her eyes gazed at Aile. Dumbfounded for a moment, she stood there frozen on the spot until their eyes met and she had to whip her head away to gather her wits for the answer. "Um..."

Oblivious to the turmoil that his friend's mind was in, the chubby boy that seemed to have permanently closed eyes and blond tidy hair with a single stray lock in the center of his forehead answered, "We're getting some reagents for Montmorency's potion."

Aile looked at him for a moment before tugging at Louise's sleeve, "Louise, who's he?"

"Oh, pardon me," He said as he turned so that his entire body was facing her, "I'm **Malicorne de Grandple**, and I'm a wind mage." He bowed in a gentleman's bow and would have had taken off his hat and placed it in front of his chest if he had one. "Just call me Malicorne."

"A pleasure in meeting you Malicorne." Aile replied in greeting and would also have bowed if she could.

"Introductions aside. We'd really had to go." Said Louise as she raised the reins.

"WAIT!" Guiche called out, finally noticing the lack of bandages. "Aile, are your injuries fully healed?"

Aile blinked at the question as her eyes fell to her hand. "I think so yeah."

Turning to his girlfriend he asked, "Montmorency, would you mind taking it a look?"

"Eh? ME?!" Montmorency half screamed, half squeaked as she jumped back as if she was bitten.

Raising his eyebrow in confusion he said, "Well … yes, since you're good at healing magic."

In her muddled state, Montmorency could only blabber in incoherent words before muttering, "Fine," in resignation. Walking to the girl on the horse she forcefully grabbed the hand, surprising Aile in the process and massaged it softly, searching for anything misplaced before concluding that there are none. The touch felt heavenly, she supposed and it was taking all of her will power to lean her head to it and rub the palm to her cheeks.

Guiche meanwhile noticed something at the back of Aile's hand and wondered if it was the one that he was looking for. Silently, he concentrated his mind to it, etching the pattern on the hand to his mind. For a long time he always wondered why his father taught him to always hide a piece of paper inside his pocket and how to write using his wand but now he knew why and could finally use those skills to write the runes on this girl's hand.

The sensation was akin to bliss as she felt the warm, strong hand. Feeling her magic coursing through her hands to her fingertips and into Aile's outstretched hand. She felt the blood flowing through the girl's veins, the pressure stronger than she knew would be possible in an adolescent body. She applied a mild pressure and felt the girl's bones and muscles underneath the skin and something … more? Immediately, she commanded her magic to move as it circulated on the hand now growing visible with a soft glow, the parts that she couldn't identify was something more, harder than a bone but smoother. Metal! It has to be metal but it was unlike any metal that she had ever felt before. Stronger than steel, harder than a diamond but malleable enough to be implanted into this girl's hand. She felt a strong push from something within, akin to magic but not the same as it as Aile herself said that she didn't have any magic in her. It was like something was forcing her out, no, not something … someone? A frown appeared on her features as an inquisitive sound rose up from her throat.

"Is something wrong?" Aile asked, concerned. Why shouldn't she be? It was her hand that was being examined after all.

A blush threatened to appear on her face as she fought the urge to look up at the other girl and instead she said, "No, nothing's wrong." '_Not yet anyway._' She thought but didn't dare to say it. She closed her eyes in concentration as she imagined what was hindering her.

And instead of a push she suddenly felt her entire self being dragged inside. She opened her eyes and saw herself at the bottom of a lake or sea gazing at an irritated, floating, naked girl. The strange being looked a lot like Aile but her hair was a lot longer and shaded with the coloration of the deep seas and for some reason, this girl made her remember the clear lake, the home of her ancestor. The floating girl moved closer with unfathomable grace and Montmorency saw the girl's icy blue gaze on her own, judging her and dismissing her for what she was.

Montmorency would tremble if she could in this vast sea of Aile's soul, fully knowing the impossibility of hiding what she was from this spirit and would have struck her down for it. For such a perfect creature seeing her in her original, degrading form must have been an affront to this spirit. She trembled knowing that her end is nigh.

"Get out Montmorency." The beautiful young woman said and the Halberd that Aile had used the day before yesterday appeared in her grasp as its sharp, immaterial tip was pointed at Montmorency's throat. "Get out before you raise my ire." It was the same voice that Montmorency heard when Aile summoned her armor.

Montmorency gasped as she fell to the ground and beads of sweat appeared at her brow. She looked around and noticed the concerned looks that appeared at everyone's faces. "I-I'm all right." She said as she tried to stand up. She couldn't believe it; the spirit residing within Aile had mercifully spared her despite her transgression.

"What happened Mon-mon?" Guiche asked and his usual flattery voice was gone and replaced by true concern as he helped her up.

"I – I saw her," Replied Montmorency, her legs shaking from the sudden jolt of being spared by the unknown entity inside of Aile.

"She is not pleased you know." Aile stated and everyone turned to her. "Leviathan is not pleased that you tried to probe me." She was looking down at Montmorency with that one bright bluish eye. She blushed a bit when she realized that her words could be misinterpreted but hid it behind a mask of irritation.

Montmorency refused to meet Aile's eyes for doing so while blushing might anger the spirit and forfeit her life right then and there. Swallowing the lump in her throat she ignored what it could have meant and replied with, "I – I see now. So it is true that you had a spirit inside of you protecting you from harm."

"Yes," Answered Aile, alarmed at Montmorency's fear induced trembling as she made a mental note to ask what Leviathan did.

Montmorency took a shaky breath and said, "Well, we wouldn't want to hold you here indefinitely and we have to gather reagents for our potions. Guiche, Malicorne, let's go. Forgive us for taking your time." And with that she abruptly walked away followed by the two confused teenagers after they excused themselves with Malicorne talking about not missing lunch.

Finally given the freedom, Louise slapped on the reins and the horse suddenly ran almost taking Aile by surprise. Almost since she managed to hold onto Louise tightly but not overtly so.

"Aile! Look at what you're touching!" Seethed Louise though she didn't make a move to adjust the girl's hands.

"I can't! I'm right behind you." Came her reply and it was completely true as her front was pressed tightly on Louise's back and her cheek was at Louise neck. She was certain that her breath must have been tickling the girl's sensitive neck as Louise shivered randomly.

"Ah!" Louise jolted for a bit. "I see, nevermind." Louise dismissed, wondering if Aile noticed that she was squeezing her mounds before she became aware that she didn't want the girl to let her go. She blushed furiously as her heart began to speed up and thanked the founder that Aile couldn't see her face and if she did her bright pink hair could easily hide it.

"Why?" She asked, leaning forward over the shoulder and looked down. "Oh!" Was all that she said before removing one of her hands and forcefully shoved it into Louise's inner thigh.

Louise nearly jumped. A fatal move if she did since the horse was running. She would have closed her legs too but she was sitting on a horse. '_T-This is getting out of hand!_' Louise thought and it took all of her concentration to stop her eyes from spinning. "A-Aile! What are you doing?!" She demanded.

"Your skirt was being blown up." Replied Aile as she kept a hand on Louise's sensitive inner thigh. "I thought that you wanted me to push it back down since your hands are preoccupied."

"Y-y-yes, of course!" Louise conceded. "Just keep your hand over there. Aha-hahaha!" She laughed nervously as her mind conflicted if the reason was enough for Aile's hand to be THERE!

'_*Sniff!*_' Zero's voice teasingly cried, '_I taught her so well! Giro would be proud!_'

'_What had you been TEACHING my chosen one, Zero!_' X demanded, scandalized at what she was seeing through Aile's eyes.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"You call this a city?" Aile asked echoing the question voiced in her mind.

"Why yes!" Exclaimed Louise, her back stood tall and proud and huffed her chest as she did so. Like what a noble should look like.

"How many people lived here exactly?" Asked Aile though her voice seemed to shift a bit as her eye lost its sparkle and a measuring frown appeared from her face.

Louise didn't saw this of course and had misinterpreted the disappointed questioning into an awe of wonderment. "About two to three hundred thousand at least." She replied, "It is one of the biggest settlements in Halkeginia."

"Just two to three hundred?" She asked again though Louise noted that the tone was the same as when Phantom appeared and introduced herself.

Alarmed by the voice, Louise turned and looked straight at Aile. The girl's usually green eye was now a dull black before turning into the color of the seas.

"It's tiny!" Leviathan whined.

The burning vermillion…

"I wouldn't call this big." Fefnir huffed, contorting Aile's feature into an arrogant snarl. "The deserters of Neo Arcadia were bigger than this."

Aile's expression shifted again and her blue eye returned though it was deeper than before. "Agree to that!" She said, "This looked more like a very small town than a city."

Louise was flabbergasted at the reaction. She expected amazement not the other way around. "Then how large would a city in your eyes be?"

Her eye changed back to green but it sparkled like that of a jewel, "About a million or two at the least with very tall buildings about one hundred to five hundred stories high." Explained X.

"That's – That's impossible! You would need an excessive amount of magic to hold that much stone together, more so than the ones at the school and you yourself said that there aren't any magic from where you came from."

"True, but we found creative ways on how to reinforce it to make it stronger and not all of the buildings and houses from where I came from are made up of stones. Some that I know of are made up of glass and it was quite sturdier than what you might think."

They left Cervantes back at the nearby stable, renting a place for it while they went somewhere that only Louse knew, guiding Aile by holding her hand even though their pace wasn't abrupt. To a nearby passerby they looked like childhood friends with one leading the other to parts unknown.

"A Tailor's shop?" Aile asked eying the sign perched at the front of the door.

Louise nodded her head then beamed at Aile, "Yes, Madame Taylor's works are one of the best in their arts. Her designs can range from their beautiful simplicity to their artistic elegance."

"Ah, I see, no wonder you chose this place."

Her hand clenched a bit tighter to Aile's own, "Let's go! I want to see you in different clothes other than my uniform."

"Me? But why?"

"I summoned you here, remember?"

Aile only tilted her head in confusion silently asking what had that got to do with it.

"One of the responsibilities of the summoner was to take care of her summon, that includes basic necessities like food or clothing." She opened the door …

And the first thing that she noticed was Tabitha standing there expressionlessly while Kirche examined clothes again and again, pressing some of it to the stoic young bluenette to see if it would fit on her.

"Tabitha?" Louise asked.

"Kirche?" Aile added.

Turning around, Kirche's eyes were practically beaming with mirth making the two girls shudder. "Aile, Louise, fancy seeing you here."

"Ah, well, I'm trying to buy some clothes for Aile." Louise reasoned.

Finally having Kirche sufficiently distracted, Tabitha looked at Aile with longing and worded to her, 'Help me!'

A glint appeared on Kirche's eyes and a wide smile appeared on her lips sending another shiver down Aile's spine. It's like the young woman was undressing her with just those eyes and suddenly, she understood what Tabitha had gone through and felt pity for her.

"Clothes, I see. Hm… You wouldn't mind if I help out right? I have found a few things that might interest you, Louise."

"Interest me? But Aile would be the one wearing them." Louise replied in confusion.

"True, but you're the one who will be dressing her. Plus you're her master so you should show everyone who's in charge."

A shiver ran up Aile's spine when she heard those words.

"Still no. If I were to show to everyone that I'm the one who's in charge then I have to pick the clothes myself."

"If that's the case then …" Still not backing down, Kirche leaned over and whispered on Louise's ear and the girl's eyes widened at the revelation.

"You got a deal!" Louise blurted with a faint blush and elated demeanor, grabbing on both of Kirche's hands onto her own and shaking them vigorously.

'_For some reason, I'm dreading what's about to happen.'_ Zero stated. _'I suggest we bolt out of here. Does everyone agree?'_

'_I seconded that. I don't want to cross dress.'_ Harpuia stated.

'_But it's not your body. It belonged to Aile plus you're a girl now.'_ Replied Leviathan.

'_Third.'_ Aile said. Sure that she's grateful for Louise for thinking about her but right now the two girls infront of her seemed to be thinking something inappropriate.

'_I … Won't take sides.'_ Obviously, that was X. Sometimes, his neutrality is annoying in situations like this one.

'_I don't wanna go! Some of the clothes look cute.'_ Fefnir rejected and actually surprising everyone else. All six of them all thought that Fefnir would wail about it and force Aile to bolt away whether the girl liked it or not.

'_We have now officially lost the battle happy Fefnir from our circle of manliness.'_ Stated Zero with a hint of sadness in it and the worst part was that she was sincere about it. _'And have now joined with Leviathan in kyas and gyas! Now we're really in trouble!'_

'_I was actually afraid of that. I was wondering if our ingrained template register had some side effect of instinctive brainwashing._' X stated worriedly.

'_No!_' Wailed Zero in actual fright.

'_We will stay here. Even if I don't like it.'_ Declared Phantom and everyone could imagine her standing tall and proud in the face of imminent defeat. _'Louise-sama had graciously offered to buy us some clothes and we shouldn't soil her hospitality.'_

Everyone was silent after that statement as even when she had said that she disapprove of it she was willing to go on and face it. And now that the battle of wills was tied Aile couldn't do anything more than stand there in indecision until …

'_I can't believe I'm saying this but I have to agree with Phantom here.'_ X announced, declaring their fate.

Aile groaned while the other two wailed in pure horror as Aile's arm was grabbed and she was shoved into a nearby booth.

"H-Hey …! Wait a-! No, Don't …! Stop!" Screamed someone from inside the booth as Aile's school uniform was thrown out and over to be scooped up by Louise. "No! Not the underwear!" Louise blushed at what she was hearing and so did the others within hearing range. Clearly, Kirche wants to be thorough but isn't this a bit too much?

Right outside one of the female patrons walked by with a bit of blush on her face. Usually, she would stop the nobles from sexually harassing a commoner but the ones that she had stopped before are lecherous men who are easily swayed not young girls at the height of their puberty and thus she couldn't do a thing.

Louise was torn as to who to help out. Should she help Kirche then Aile might hate her for it, if she stopped Kirche then her promise would be revoked. An idea popped into her mind, one that would not compromise the relationship with the two of them.

She turned to the side. "Tabitha!" she called out only to find her … missing.

Right outside, a blue dragon and its master flew away.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

Siesta hummed softly as she dusted off another shelf. In her lifetime she had seen these nobles' slow descent into corruption. Caring more and more of themselves and less and less of their surroundings especially the ordinary folk of whom they all sworn to protect and shelter. Instead she had seen and felt firsthand on how the nobles treated the people as nothing more than dirt on the road or using them as nothing more than tools until they are no longer needed then tossed aside like garbage.

Grunting in annoyance. She leaned the broom that she was using on the wall before taking several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Yesterday was the pinnacle of her irritation. '_How dare that Count call himself a noble! That title could only be earned not passed down! He should be disowned and thrown away especially with the way that he treated his subjects as nothing more than toys for his pleasure until their minds are broken beyond repair._' Siesta's hands clenched into fists as she remembered on how he treated her yesterday as some**thing** not some**one**. '_It was like everyone without any kind of magic was beneath him and should not be treated as a person. Well, lucky for him that he failed to take me. That Osmond protected him from me otherwise I will reduce everything that he owned to rubble._'

Opening her eyes, she was mildly surprised that the wall that her hand was holding on had cracked with sharp crystals of differing shades surrounding her hand like intertwining fingers of a loved one asking her to calm down. Slowly, she did so and the crystals recede before skimming her hand to the wall to return it back to its former smooth self without the cracks and crystals.

With that done she returned back to her work and on the lighter side of her musings; Miss Vallière, despite being a self centered child still cared about the commoners and treated them with respect deep in her heart. Mr. de Gramont, a flamboyant two timer, still tried to use diplomacy to stop people and even admitted to his own mistake. Miss Montmorency, on the other hand, looked down on the commoners but this attitude could be stemmed by her jealousy. Miss Tabitha smelled of pain, she could be sympathetic to the commoners due to her hardships. Miss Kirche acted like that she didn't care but her actions would tell otherwise.

Finished with her cleaning, she walked to the door and from her pocket she retrieved a few, small, broken clumps of iron. A smile appeared on her lips as she thought of Aile and of her status much like she was a long time ago. She closed her eyes as she held the broken clumps on her hands before opening them to gaze at the transmuted deadbolt resting at her right hand before resuming her work.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

Guiche hastened his pace, clutching the piece of paper that contained the runes on Aile's hand. Finally, a piece of concrete information that will help them solve the puzzle that is Aile's identity. He marched across the hallway, looking at the faces of the students that he was passing by mindful of the person that he was looking for.

He had searched for a while now but there was still no sign of him even as he visited the places that he usually spends his time on but still to no avail. That was until he heard a pop somewhere in the distance around Vestri Court. Some of the students, wondering what the noise was, went there to look with whispered words that it could be the Zero failing at her most recent spell yet again but since he knew that both the Zero and her Familiar were leaving for town earlier that day he was certain that it wasn't her that caused that explosion.

He contemplated for a while whether he should investigate the noise or not but then again the runes could wait for a few moments and Reynard could be at the court at this moment wondering what the explosion was. With his mind set, he turned around and headed for Vestri Court.

What he saw there only made him raise his eyebrows at what he was seeing. The perpetrator of that sound seemed to be some sort of experiment involving a small metal ball being pulled at at opposite sides by two groups with each group having three students and it is clear that they had been doing this for a while based on the beads of sweat that they have accumulated. Looking around he spotted Gimli overseeing the experiment and taking notes before signaling them to stop allowing the other students to catch their breaths.

He knew that Gimli was a close friend of Reynard and the two would sometimes be seen together working on something or sometimes giving information or materials to other students for a price naturally. With that thought he approached the leaf-colored kid and asked the question that the mass of students have in their minds, "Gimli, what are you working on?"

Gimli perked up a bit as he turned to him, "Well, I'm working on the properties of a vacuum chamber. Specifically, on how strong it is on pulling the two separate helves of a metal sphere together."

Guiche's response was to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"Well, um… you know how pressurized air pushes things away just so it could escape? It is the direct opposite of what I'm doing here. I'm examining on how a depressurized environment could keep the two separate bodies of its container together." He explained and then took two of the separated halves of a sphere lying on the ground. "It took us quite a while to separate these first two."

'_That must be where the sound came from._' Guiche concluded before asking his question, "Had you seen Reynard lately?"

"Reynard? Have you tried the library yet?"

Truthfully, he hadn't yet. He hates the library. Well, not really, just studying actually and that place is filled with students and professors cramming and researching. "No, not yet actually."

"He said he was heading there to study about familiars."

'_Perfect!_' "Thanks Gimli."

"Sure."

Guiche wasted no time as he raced to the library armed with a copy of Aile's runes and since Reynard is studying about familiars right now this would be the perfect opportunity to show it to him and find out what kind of familiar she is.

He stopped infront of the library and its imposing doors hesitating briefly before swallowing it away, entering the structure all the while. After a minute of searching he found the person he was looking for besides a stack of books.

Reynard sat there turning page after page slowly, skimming through it instead of reading. He seemed awfully bored by it due to the way that he yawned every few minutes and his eyes looked like they would close up if given the opportunity.

'_I hope this would perk him up._' Guiche thought as he called out to him, calling his attention to him to which the younger boy did and he immediately perked up.

"Guiche! Hey! Do you need something? As far as I know, it has been a while since you last called out to me like that." And that last time was something about a perfume about a month ago.

"Ah, no. I believe you asked me to bring you this." He replied as he gave the piece of paper that he had held tightly inside his pocket.

Reynard raised his eyebrow in confusion and straightened out the crumpled mess. '_Runes?_' He thought. '_I didn't ask for one or rather why is he giving me one._' "What are these for?"

"Those runes are Aile's familiar runes."

Comprehension dawned on his eyes. "You mean this is Aile's … How did you get it?"

"Well, Louise and Aile were … Look, does it matter? I'm also intrigued by what kind of familiar a humanoid is."

"Hm…" Intoned Reynard as he looked at the parchment and trying to commit the runes to memory. "Unfortunately, rune research is only available to third years and above. We cannot access them since the words would just disappear when we opened the books."

"Darn, so we hit a roadblock."

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" Reynard hissed. "We're inside the library."

Guiche's eyes flashed in recognition for a moment before nodding. "Sorry. But still, we need to get hold of those books."

Reynard remained silent for a moment before perking up. "I might have an idea but it's risky."

"Tell me."

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"So you want to know what these runes mean?" Asked Professor Colbert. All three of them are inside Professor Colbert's workshop and while the Professor is right at home inside his territory the other two are understandably quite terrified since it was known that the place would combust or explode for no reason within the few years that it had been built and rebuilt. That spontaneous combustion and explosion was also the reason that the Professor was given a workshop **away **from the usual laboratory and classrooms that the more 'normal' Professors would use.

"Yes Professor." Guiche replied.

"We saw some of the familiars having runes of their own and we were wondering what those mean. Guiche asked for one so we could ask you professor." Reynard put in. It was technically the truth.

"I see." Professor Colbert replied and a smile appeared on his face. He was glad that some of the students were actually studying Brimir's runes. "I will tell you what I can find. Did you know that Brimir himself was the one who made these runes? And each rune corresponds to a word much like short hand writing. And did you know that the familiars are branded that corresponds to what they are?"

"Yes Professor. If you do not mind we would take our leave. We didn't want to keep you from the research that you are doing."

"All right then." Professor Colbert bowed his head in a sign of acknowledgement and the two students bowed lower in a sign of respect before taking their leave.

"You know, this will become a very big problem in the long run." Guiche said after they had placed a good distance away from Professor Colbert's workshop.

"I know."

"We should have told him which familiar those runes belonged to."

"No, I think we did the right thing." Reynard turned to Guiche then added, "Think about it. If Aile's familiar brand is important then they'll ask us who's branding is it without telling us the meaning but if it isn't significant then they'll tell us straight ahead what those runes mean without asking us the specific familiar."

"Yeah, but there is also the possibility that they'll find out that it was Aile straight away and then tell us that he forgot about it."

"That's why it's a gamble and also it will make us suspicious of them."

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"Are you sure that this is the place, Malicorne?" Montmorency asked as looked around the wide plains which are as far as the eyes could see. It is now mid morning and the sun's heat was beginning to be felt reminding them of their dwindling chance to find and grab the plant and if they hadn't found the plant when it reached noon then they will have to try it again tomorrow morning at the exact same time since the plant in question would turn transparent before disappearing all together.

"Yeah. My bugbear can see it floating around here." Replied Malicorne, "The drifting feather might be hard to see with our eyes but not my bug bear. If it focused enough it can read a book a mile away."

"Good. Tell it to keep an eye on it."

The drifting feather is like its namesake, a single feather floating in the wind. But despite the fact that it looks like a dead feather, it is actually a living plant that takes its roots on the air instead of the ground. It is also very brittle and sensitive to touch thus when one tried to get a hold of it it would dissolve into fine, powdery substance; it is also the reason as to why wind mages are the only ones to have ever captured it. Its Feathers usually preferred wide open spaces to 'drift' around, and to ensure that the moisture that it had within its bristles wouldn't evaporate, it usually floated around well irrigated plains due to humidity and not deserts since the desert's heat would cause it to combust after drying it up.

Montmorency winced when she felt something 'shift' inside of her. The feeling wasn't painful nor unpleasant just … odd. Unbidden, fear welled up again inside as a cruel thought about what she was emerged, '_How much time do I have before my body dissolved away?_' She is not human. Not entirely anyway. The closest that her family could come up about themselves was that they were like ice dropped on water slowly melting to return to its original state. She shook herself, '_No, now is not the time to mope around. I have to find that ingredient._' It is inevitable that she will turn into something unrecognizable but before that happens she will realize her wish.

"I can get the Feather if you want." Malicorne offered while keeping an eye on his familiar circling the plant.

Montmorency shook her head. "No, I should be the one to capture it."

Malicorne's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "But you're a water mage." That statement earned him a look that the Zero usually gave before something exploded. He backed away slowly while raising her hands submissively, "I-I'm not insulting you or anything it's just that the Drifting Feather reacts badly with water."

Montmorency's expression softened for a bit, "Don't worry. I know of a way. Just send it over here."

Malicorne concentrated and muttered a weak wind spell. A soft breeze whispered to their ears and the Feather drifted to them, twirling and twisting in the air like it was dancing on a song of the wind.

Montmorency couldn't take her eyes away. Mesmerized as she was with the feather's white glow and for a second she was frozen in time and all that mattered was the feather's beauty and her awe toward it.

"Hey!"

She gasped as her mind was jolted awake and looked at the chubby boy with mild bewilderment.

"Do not look intently at it." Explained Malicorne. "One of the reasons that the feather is hard to capture is because of its hypnotizing glint. And if you look for a moment longer you'll fall asleep and the feather will have flown away."

"I - I know that." She blurted out with a blush staining her cheeks hoping that he misinterpreted her forgetfulness for irritation. She turned around and casted a spell in the air and slowly but surely water droplets appeared from thin air and began massing themselves together turning bigger and bigger until it was at the same size as Montmorency's head. Satisfied at the size, she guided it with her bare left hand.

"That still amazes me you know." Malicorne pronounced. "No mage can hold their element in their hands."

"It is one of our inherited traits from the water spirit. Ever since we are born we are able to control water far easier than most people." She raised the sphere and with a mental command a bubble of air appeared in the middle of it, turning itself into a thick bubble before swallowing the drifting feather.

The feather turned and twisted around in the middle for a moment before settling itself in the middle of the bubble unmoving while remaining its distance from the bubble's walls.

"Wow!"

"My family knows that the Drifting Feather will remain inert when placed in the middle of a bubble. My mother thinks that the Feather can feel the pressure around it and will want an equal distance from any sides."

"Hence its avoidance."

"Yup."

Montmorency smiled as she held the bubble with both of her hands and within it the final ingredient of her potion.

**=He will not be Forgotten=**

"Thanks for the purchase. Please come back again." Said the shop proprietor before his voice was drowned out by the bell attached to the door.

"Damn that Germanian!" Louise seethed as her hands closed around nothing, not even air as they are clenched too tightly while her mind was too preoccupied with the vision of her red headed classmate being choked to death with those same hands. "I can't believe she weaseled out on me and forced me to pay for her clothes too!"

Aile was the direct opposite of the seething Tristainian though for she remained passive and silent while following the pink haired girl. If anyone knew Aile personally they would understand the girl's silence and would likely crack a few jokes at her expense. '_God! I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm glad that Giro isn't here to see me. If he was here the teasing won't stop!_'

'_I would actually tease you about it right now, Aile, if I and the others hadn't experienced it firsthand._' Zero stated and Aile knew that the cyber-elf was shaking somewhere deep within her.

'_Ugh… That experience was horrible!_' Said X, wishing that she could go somewhere and hide.

The two girls, the little pinkette and the busty redhead had done a very thorough job of dressing and undressing the poor girl mostly against her will like some human sized dress-up doll with clothes ranging from normal everyday attire of the upper classes to clothes that are a bit too skimpy and thin for sleeping to clothes that she would only wish to wear alone with no one seeing her in it. The frilly pink dress that she was wearing right now fell under the third category. At a glance the clothes made her look like some pampered princess and the bag that she was carrying with her hands only accentuated her looks with the way that she carried it. The blush on her face didn't help matters at all as it made her look like a weak noble struggling with what she was holding and would soon be needing help.

Dressing up like this made her remember that time when she was still small and dreaming of being a princess and having her reploid hero save her from a horde of mavericks but that childhood dream turned into a nightmare on that amusement park long ago, shattering innocence and drastically changing her life.

'_I hate that color! Why didn't they just buy that green dress?!_' Harpuia seethed.

'_Don't tell me that you're …_' Leviathan didn't manage to finish that sentence.

'_Of course not! It's just that Aile looked better in our colors especially Master X's color of dark blue or Zero's red armor. Pink just makes Aile look … Fragile …_'

'_Ah, I see what you mean._'

'_But looking like that makes Aile so cute!_' Fefnir countered. '_In our colors Aile looked very much like a hardened warrior._'

'_But that's the point!_' Harpuia replied, '_Aile should look strong._'

'_No, it isn't, Aile is a girl and sometimes she should act like one._'

Several gasps were heard, no one have ever thought that Fefnir would say something like that.

'_I can't believe I just heard that from you of all people!_' Exclaimed Leviathan, voicing the thought out of everyone's minds.

"Aile!" Louise called out, swiveling around to look at the girl while walking backwards. "When Kirche comes around. Tell her thaAAHH-" Louise never managed to finish that sentence as she tripped on a loose rock and fell backwards onto a very surprised young man.

"Ow! Hey! What the…" said the kid as he was sandwiched between the dusty ground and Louise. Aile peered at him curiously; the young, black haired man was wearing a blue jacket and white pants both of which looked like it hadn't been washed for a few days while the rusted sword strapped to his back seemed way past its glory days and directly infront of him were a few loaves of bread that had no doubt become inedible due to having fallen to the ground. The young man took a single look at his fallen food before his face turned into a grimace. "There goes my food for the entire three days."

"Louise, are you all right?" Aile asked as she ran to them before her foot accidentally stepped on her skirt and she gave a startled cry.

Louise knew how heavy Aile's body was and she saw what was about to come but was too horrified to move away. "A-Aile!" She squeaked, her life flashed before her eyes.

Both Louise and the young man have their breaths got knocked out of them.

"H-Heavy…" He gasped out. The poor fellow had one of his hands out like he was trapped under tons of rubble … which, wasn't off the mark.

Unfortunately for him he missed out in seeing the two lip-locked girls mere inches from his face due to the ill-fated circumstance that he was facing the other direction.

"I can't breathe …" He rasped. A sentiment shared by the other two gasping girls who hurriedly removed themselves from each other and hoped that their faces weren't as red as they thought. "You girls…" He started, turning around to face them while rubbing his aching back, unused to the sudden weight that was placed on it. "…Weighed a ton. Where do you hide those extra pounds?"

"Wh-what?!" Louise screamed in indignation whipping out her wand as she did. "How dare you call your betters fat you plebian!" She got a good look at him and what she saw actually disgusted her. What he was wearing was nearly rags with some parts all torn up and by the looks of it she could tell that he hadn't washed for a few days with all that dirt clinging onto him. Does he know anything about hygiene?

Aile reached out her hand and placed it over Louise's own, "Louise…" She whispered lowering both of their hands, "It's all right, it's not his fault and besides we have to pay for those at least." She then pointed with her eyes at the mud covered, hard bread.

"And why do we have to pay for them?" Louise questioned, "That is clearly his punishment for blocking my way."

Aile frowned at the girl's dismissal of the boy when it was Louise's own fault for turning to face her to begin with and instead of apologizing she instead blamed the victim for the whole event. "Punishment for what?" She asked, "He's the victim here."

Louise turned to her in surprise. "Are you saying that I was the one at fault here?"

"Yes." Aile answered in a plain and simple tone that it took Louise a few seconds to process.

"Aile, how could you…" Louise recoiled as if struck before regaining her composure, "Aile, a commoner should bow down to the nobles. That is how our society worked for six millennia."

Aile blinked as she processed this information, "A Hierarchical society? I see. But still, social standing shouldn't blind you of your common sense."

"What in the founder's name does that mean?"

Aile sighed, and closed her eyes and when she opened them one of them had turned a vibrant green. "Louise, think about it. It isn't his fault to begin with. You're the one who turned around to look at Aile and thus you didn't saw where you're going."

"But that doesn't-"

"Louise," The girl started. "Even though you are of a higher ranked than him you should still respect him and admit your own blunder otherwise how could people respect someone who wouldn't even admit her mistakes?" X said, she had experience dealing with people who thought of themselves better than others and would often than not come out as pompous idiots who thought that the world revolved around them. The only way to make them realize and admit it was for people of whom they valued as their equal to tell them about it.

"No, I won't." Louise stubbornly hissed before leaning forward and whispering to Aile's ear. "Even if I want to I can't."

X was a bit surprised at this as she felt something round and flat dropped down to her hand.

Without another word Louise stormed off, taking with her the clothes that they had purchased for Aile.

X released her hold and allowed Aile to regain control of her body. She looked down, there sitting at the palm of her right hand were two glinting gold coins.

"Well, that was rude of her." Exclaimed the boy in clear irritation, "How am I supposed to eat this?!"

"Now, now, nothing's going to happen if you continued to get mad over wasted food." Aile said, trying to pacify the young man.

"True, but still, she could have apologized at the very least." The young man replied, still seething but his anger was slowly fleeting.

"She wanted to." Aile replied, "But her pride wouldn't allow her."

'_She's like Harpuia. Too prideful._'

'_I think she's more like you Zero. A Tsundere!_'

'_I am not a tsundere, Levi._'

Her thumb brushed over the impressed emblem of Tristain before raising it. "Here."

Perplexed, he looked down and saw the runes on the girl's right hand before looking up and, for the very first time, he took note of what the girl was wearing and came to the logically wrong conclusion.

He kissed it.

Startled, Aile could be forgiven for slapping the man with her other hand. Luckily for him she didn't use her full strength otherwise his neck would have snapped.

"Ow." He whispered pitifully.

"Wha-what the heck was that for?!" Aile screamed indignantly, her face flushed in embarrassment.

"Isn't it that people usually kissed the hand offered to them?"

"What? Of course not! What age are you from? Oh wait…" She nearly palmed her face as she realized what era she was really in. "Here," She repeated as she tried to regain her dignity despite her embarrassment, "I believe this is enough for you to buy some food."

He clumsily reached out to catch the two glinting coins thrown at him. Looking at it his eyes bulged out, "This, this is too much! A single coin is enough."

"Then use the other for lodging."

"Still…" He hesitated before a sudden idea struck him. Removing his black, flame pattered, right hand glove, he casually stood up and offered it to her. "Here."

Aile's eyebrow raised while deep inside of her, Fefnir squealed in delight. "I can't accept that."

A smile formed on his lips, "I'm not giving it to you, when I have enough money I intend to buy it back."

Understanding dawned on her and she casually accepted it, "All right." She said as she took the glove and inspected it for a moment. "I'm Aile by the way."

"Call me Saito. Hiraga Saito."

AN1:

Went to town's clothe shop with Aile commenting the small size of the city and Louise had Aile try different clothes

AN2:

May 14, 2012 – That was one dang long writer's block (About what would Kirche say that would excite Fefnir)

I just noticed that Tabitha is compatible with three of the cyber elves: Leviathan, Harpuia, and Phantom.

You guys wouldn't notice it but there's a very deep plot related thing in here.

Do you people seriously think that I'll forget Saito?

May 03, 2013 – Guys, forgive me for not updating this fanfic until now.

**Replies:**

**Nased0:**

I did and here it is!

**Guest:**

I seriously don't know on how to write nor how to correct the mistakes since I don't know where they are. That is one of my problems in writing, I know they were there but whenever I read it it seems all right to me.

**RetardedFool:**

Good reason but still think about it, not everyone knowing about him is improbable at best and impossible at the least.

**Sky EXE:**

Nope! Siesta is not a reploid and I never shown that she's one.

**Akibara:**

*Sigh* Like I said, I do not know what's wrong with my writing. I wish to correct it but I do not know what's wrong and thus the grammar and some other things are thrown outside and when I tend to check I use my ear to spot it.

**Vampwriter:**

*Wince* It isn't shoujo-ai but for some reason I kept on writing it like that! And I do listen to my fanbase but unfortunately I have my plot to think about.

**Akuma-Heika:**

a. I … Forgot what we were talking about.

b. Backtrackings a pain…

Thanks for placing it on one of your top faves and I hope you're still here.

**Maeru:**

Well … now you know the reason for genderbending.

**Obiki Doragon:**

What?

**CyberAngelOne:**

Sometimes when people gossip about very absurd things the eavesdroppers tends to dismiss it as nonsense especially when the eavesdropper is a professor who knows a lot more than the younger generation and thus would often place those that he hears as 'preposterous'.


End file.
